Harry Potter - Tempore Cor
by Luminatrix
Summary: Harry Potter becomes mortally wounded during the Ministry Battle as the shards of a broken Time-Turner causes him to gain the power to manipulate time and space. Is this the 'power he knows not? Harry/Hermione or Harry/Luna Pairing or H/HR/L? Who is the one destined to be with Harry? Set during the Order of the Phoenix. Smart, Powerful Harry with training.Dumbledore/Weasley bashing
1. Chapter 1 - Temporal Deviation

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, _"Hey, I know what you're thinking...no it's not what it looks like. Wait – yes...uh no Harry is definitely not a slave._

Synopsis: Harry Potter becomes injured in the Ministry battle in his attempts to rescue his godfather. An encounter with a broken Time-Turner causes him to gain the power to manipulate time and space. Hermione is a strong-willed, intelligent witch who is loyal to Harry. Luna is a quirky, eccentric witch who is known to make Harry smile with her random comments. Who is the one destined to be with Harry?

 **Author's Note:**

 **I would like to thank Philosophize and Angy2015 for their valuable time editing this story. Their corrections make it a more enjoyable read for everyone.**

* * *

Chapter 1

Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived - or as he preferred it, 'just Harry' - did not feel lucky at this moment. The young teenager groaned once again, at finding himself in the hospital wing under the tender care of Madam Pomfrey. It would seem fate derived extreme, perverse pleasure in placing him there every other day, infuriating him to no end.

Harry stared up at the bland ceiling, all the while butting his head into the pillow. Thinking about the events that happened less than three hours ago made his emotions boil, and his countenance crumble with anger, confusion and guilt.

Madam Pomfrey glanced at Harry, while she continued her spell diagnosis, and sighed.

"Mr. Potter, you will desist your silly head bashing ritual this instant so I can finish my scans," she said sternly.

"Sorry Madam Pomfrey, I'm just restless," Harry droned. Privately, he wanted nothing more than to leave the wing and find an isolated place where no one would disturb him.

The matron must have noticed his dead, monotone voice because her usually stern countenance softened. She finished her spell diagnosis and placed her wand back inside the folds of her medical robes.

"Mr. Potter...Harry, do you think you could explain what happened and how you got those chest wounds?" she asked kindly. "I am picking up some peculiar readings from them, which is disquieting to say the least."

Harry nodded and sighed.

"Right, well um, it all started when…."

* * *

 **3 Hrs ago  
Flashback**

"DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!"

"He dared…he dares?" shrieked Bellatrix incoherently. "He stands there…filthy half-blood—"

"WAIT UNTIL WE'VE GOT THE PROPHECY!" bawled Malfoy.

Harry cursed inwardly as he glanced from the Death Eaters to his group and back. He could feel the tension in the air as everyone was poised to strike. The Death Eaters were seconds away from sending deadly spells at Harry's group, and all that stood in their way was the measly, swirling ball held firmly in Harry's hand.

Harry noticed how two Death Eaters disintegrated when they came into skin contact with falling prophecy balls from collapsed shelves. Their clumsiness as they bumped into the shelves had cost them their lives. Nothing remained of them but fragments of glass upon the floor.

 _Some kind of deadly, protective curses on the prophecy balls?_ he speculated. Their deaths had given Harry an idea. The problem was going to be conveying it to the others.

"You haven't told me what's so special about this prophecy I'm supposed to be handing over," he said, playing for time. He moved his foot slowly sideways, feeling around for someone else's.

"Do not play games with us, Potter," said Malfoy.

"I'm not playing games," said Harry, half his mind on the conversation, half on his wandering foot. He found someone's toes, and pressed down on them. A sharp intake of breath behind him told him they were Hermione's.

"What?" she whispered.

"Dumbledore never told you the reason you bear that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?" asked Malfoy with a sneer.

"I... what?" said Harry. His plan was all but forgotten for the moment. "What about my scar?"

"What?" whispered Hermione more urgently behind him.

"Can this be?" said Malfoy, sounding maliciously delighted; some of the Death Eaters were laughing again, and under cover of their laughter, Harry hissed to Hermione, moving his lips as little as possible, "Smash the shelves."

"Dumbledore never told you?" Malfoy repeated. "Well, this explains why you didn't come earlier, Potter, the Dark Lord wondered why…"

"- _when I say now_ –"

"...you didn't come running when he showed you the place where it was hidden in your dreams. He thought natural curiosity would make you want to hear the exact wording..."

"Did he?" said Harry. His mind began to churn questions, and emotions already high from the adrenaline of combat, began to swirl and engulf him. Why had Dumbledore never told him the Prophecy? Why had the Headmaster never warned Harry of his connection to Voldemort? Why the Order wasn't already here to save his group was a mystery in itself, as it had been hours since Harry had told Snape of Voldemort and the Ministry. Dumbledore and the Order should have gotten to the Ministry long before Harry's group could have reached London by flying on Thestrals.

At first he was confused, then he was irritated, and, finally, he grew angry. Shaking his head, the young teenager was determined get answers from Dumbledore if it was the last thing he did. But he had to get his friends out of harm's way first, or he would never forgive himself should anything happen to them.

Behind him he felt rather than heard Hermione passing his message to the others, and he sought to keep talking to distract the Death Eaters.

"So he wanted me to come and get it, did he? Why?"

"Why?" Malfoy sounded incredulously delighted.

"Because the only people who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Potter, are those about whom it was made, as the Dark Lord discovered when he attempted to use others to steal it for him."

"And why did he want to steal a prophecy about me?"

"About both of you, Potter, about both of you...haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby?"

Harry stared into the slitted eye-holes through which Malfoy's grey eyes were gleaming. Was this prophecy the reason Harry's parents had died, the reason he carried his lightning-bolt scar? Was the answer to all of this clutched in his hand?

"Someone made a prophecy about Voldemort and me?" he asked quietly, gazing at Lucius Malfoy, his fingers tightening over the warm glass sphere in his hand. It was hardly larger than a Snitch and still gritty with dust.

"And he's made me come and get it for him? Why couldn't he come and get it himself?"

"Get it himself?" shrieked Bellatrix over a cackle of mad laughter.

"The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of Magic, when the incompetent fools are so sweetly ignoring his return? The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Aurors, when at the moment they are wasting their time on my dear cousin?"

"So, he's got you doing his dirty work for him, has he?" said Harry. "Like he tried to get Sturgis to steal it? And Bode?"

"Very good, Potter, very good..." said Malfoy slowly. "But the Dark Lord knows you are not unintell–"

"NOW!" yelled Harry.

Five different voices behind him bellowed, _"REDUCTO!"_ Five curses flew in five different directions, and the shelves opposite them exploded as the curses hit. The towering structure swayed as a hundred glass spheres burst apart. Everyone stopped and stared as pearly-white figures unfurled and floated into the air, their voices echoing from who knew what long-dead past amid the torrent of crashing glass and splintered wood now raining down around them.

"RUN!" Harry yelled as the shelves swayed precariously and more glass spheres began to fall from above. He seized a handful of Hermione's robes and dragged her forwards, holding one arm over his head as chunks of shelf and shards of glass thundered down upon them.

The group sprinted, barely managing to stay ahead of the falling, broken prophetic balls behind them. As spells flew past their heads, smashing into more shelves, Harry could distinctly make out a yell behind him.

"YOU FOOLS, stop firing! We need the prophecy intact!" Malfoy roared.

The spells stopped, but Harry didn't dare slow his pace as he followed Neville while shielding Hermione with his arm wrapped protectively around her. Amidst the chaos, Harry failed to notice that his group had split up at the end of the passage, and it was not until they came to a strange room bearing trinkets that Harry realized what was wrong.

"Where... where are the others?" gasped Harry.

He had thought Ron, Luna and Ginny were ahead of them, that they would be waiting in this room, but there was nobody there.

"They must have gone the wrong way!" whispered Hermione, terror in her face.

"Listen!" whispered Neville. The group could hear the pattering of footsteps drawing closer, whether it was friend or foe, they could not discern.

"What do we do?" Hermione asked Harry, trembling from head to foot.

"Well, we don't stand here waiting for them to find us, for a start," Harry said. "Let's get away from this door."

They ran as quietly as they could, past a shimmering bell jar where a tiny egg was hatching and unhatching, towards the exit into the circular hallway at the far end of the room. They were almost there when Harry heard something large and heavy collide with the door Hermione charmed shut.

"Stand aside!" said a rough voice behind the door. _"Alohomora!"_

As the door flew open, Harry, Hermione, and Neville dived under desks. They could see the bottom of the two Death Eaters' robes drawing nearer, their feet moving rapidly.

"They might've run straight through to the hall," said the rough voice.

"Check under the desks," said another.

Harry saw the knees of the Death Eaters bend; poking his wand out from under the desk, he shouted, _"STUPEFY!"_

A jet of red light hit the nearest Death Eater; he fell backwards into a grandfather clock and knocked it over; the second Death Eater, however, leapt aside to avoid Harry's spell and was pointing his own wand at Hermione, who was crawling out from under the desk to get a better aim.

 _"Avada —"_

Harry launched himself across the floor and grabbed the Death Eater around the knees, causing him to topple and his aim to go awry. Neville overturned a desk in his anxiety to help and pointed his wand wildly at the struggling pair, crying out,

 _"EXPELLIARMUS!"_

Both Harry's and the Death Eater's wands flew out of their hands, soaring back towards the entrance of the Hall of Prophecy. The two combatants scrambled to their feet and charged after their wands , the Death Eater in front, and Harry hot on his heels. Neville brought up the rear, plainly horrorstruck by what he had done.

"Get out of the way, Harry!" He yelled, clearly determined to repair the damage.

Harry flung himself sideways as Neville took aim again and shouted,

 _"STUPEFY!"_

The jet of red light flew right over the Death Eater's shoulder and hit a glass-fronted cabinet on the wall full of variously shaped hour-glasses; the cabinet fell to the floor and burst apart, glass flying everywhere, sprang back up on to the wall, fully mended, then fell down again, and shattered.

The sound of hundreds of time-turners shattering on the floor around the overturned cabinet temporarily drowned out the buzz of fighting in the background. Harry landed hard on the floor and tried to fight the rising panic as falling hour-glasses smashed around him.

Glancing up, Harry saw a slightly larger time-turner directly above him fall in a tantalizing manner, as if daring him to even twitch. Harry tried rolling to the side, but his aching body refused to move, prompting him to shield his face with his arms. The large time-turner impacted directly on the center of his chest, and pain exploded in his sternum. Harry looked down to see several jagged pieces of glass from the broken time-turner which had cut into his skin, drawing blood.

For the most part, the cuts appeared shallow, but sharp, jagged pain still lanced through his nerve endings whenever he tried to move. Harry was in too much pain to notice the gold sand percolating through broken shards of the hour glass and falling onto the shallow wound. As the sand seeped in, Harry felt a new sensation of burning pain as if his blood was on fire.

The unstable, unpredictable gold sand saturated the wound, which eventually became exposed directly to Harry's magic core; eliciting a new boiling pain ten times worse than the Cruciatus curse that spread from toe to head.

Harry almost bit his tongue as the pain gradually worsened, provoking him to curl into a ball. His chest felt like a mini supernova which perhaps wasn't far from the truth. His magical core was reacting to the sand in an explosive manner, and for a full minute, all Harry could do was weather the pain. After what seemed like an eternity, the pain subsided enough for Harry to open his eyes. Though the world appeared red-dimmed, Harry could still see the glass sticking into his chest.

Clenching his jaw, Harry ripped the glass from his chest, causing him to almost black out. He gingerly stood up and glanced around, looking for the Death Eater. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Neville fire another Stunning spell at the scrambling wizard, who promptly dodged the scarlet jet of light.

The Death Eater quickly snatched up his blackened wand, which lay on the floor beside the glittering bell jar. Harry ducked down behind another desk as the man turned with his death mask slightly displaced, blocking his view of Harry. He ripped it off with his free hand and shouted: _"STUP—"_

 _"STUPEFY!"_ screamed Hermione, who had just caught up with them. The jet of red light hit the Death Eater in the middle of his chest: he froze, his arm still raised, his wand fell to the floor with a flatter and he collapsed backwards towards the bell jar.

Harry expected to hear a clunk, for the man to hit solid glass and slide off the jar on to the floor; instead, his head sank through the surface of the bell jar as though it were nothing but a soap bubble, and he came to rest, sprawled on his back on the table, with his head lying inside the jar full of glittering wind.

 _"Accio Harry's wand!"_ cried Hermione. Harry's wand flew from a dark corner into her hand and she threw it to him.

"That looks like a nasty wound Harry, let me look at that," said Hermione, pointing at Harry's chest.

She aimed her wand at the bleeding wounds and incanted, _"Vulnera Sanentur."_ With a silver glow, the skin started knitting back together, and in seconds, Harry's chest was smooth and unblemished. Suddenly, the wound re-opened and blood resumed dripping from the open cut. Hermione gasped and frowned in thought.

"Madam Pomfrey will have to heal that Harry," Hermione murmured, her voice thick with worry. "The cut isn't too bad and you're not losing too much blood but, this might be serious…"

"Thanks," he said. "Right, let's get out of—"

"Look out!" said Neville, horrified. He was staring at the Death Eater's head in the bell jar.

All three of them raised their wands again, but none of them struck; they were all gazing, open-mouthed, appalled, at what was happening to the man's head.

It was shrinking fast, growing balder and balder, the black hair and stubble retracting into his skull; his cheeks becoming smooth, his skull round and covered with a peach-like fuzz...

A baby's head now sat grotesquely on top of the thick, muscled neck of the Death Eater as he struggled to get up again; but even as they watched, with their mouths agape, the head began to swell to its previous proportions again; thick black hair was sprouting from the jawline and chin...

"It's Time," said Hermione in an awestruck voice. "Time is de-aging him. . ."

As Hermione spoke, Harry felt a pressure build and diminish with varying intervals from his chest as the Death eater's head increased and shrunk. He heard a distinct buzzing sound that shrilled different monotones in tangent with the growing/shrinking head of the flailing death eater.

The Death Eater shook his ugly head again, trying to clear it, but before he could pull himself together it began to shrink back to babyhood once more...

There was a shout from a room nearby, then a crash and a scream.

"RON?" Harry yelled, turning from the monstrous transformation taking place before them. "GINNY? LUNA?"

"Harry!" Hermione screamed, drawing his attention.

The Death Eater had pulled his head out of the bell jar. His appearance was utterly bizarre, his tiny baby's head bawling loudly while his thick arms flailed dangerously in all directions, narrowly missing Harry, who had ducked.

Harry raised his wand but to his confusion, Hermione seized his arm preventing him from firing at the flailing man before him.

"You can't hurt a baby!"

There was no time to argue the point; Harry could hear more footsteps growing louder from the Hall of Prophecy and knew, too late, that he ought not to have shouted and given away their position.

"Come on!" he said, and leaving the ugly baby-headed Death Eater staggering behind them they took off for the door that stood open at the other end of the room, leading back into the black hallway.

Reuniting with the others much to Harry's relief, they fought their way through the ministry with the death eaters hot on their tails; his group had amassed an assortment of injuries from Neville's broken nose to Hermione's shoulder to hip laceration. Ron was completely useless due to his encounter with the tentacle brains, and Ginny wasn't faring much better due to her broken ankle. Only Luna was left relatively unscathed but for how long, Harry could not say, especially with the _death-munchers_ outnumbering them.

Harry knew the group couldn't keep going much longer, try as he might, Harry couldn't think of a way to get everyone safely out of the Department of Mystery. Shaking his head, he vowed to learn some healing magic at Hogwarts if they ever got out of this; if ever his group got injured again.

"Come on guys, we can't stop!" said Harry firmly. As one they moved as quickly as their injuries would allow, eventually ending back in the Veil room where the Archway stood in the center. Harry couldn't remember how the Death Eaters caught up to them but he had no time to reflect as they stood menacingly, surrounding him.

The Death Eaters all halted, gazing at him. Some were panting as hard as he was. One was bleeding badly; Dolohov, freed of the Body-Bind Curse, was leering, his wand pointing straight at Harry's face.

"Potter, this is the end of the line," drawled Lucius Malfoy, pulling off his mask. "Now hand me the prophecy like a good boy."

"Let... let the others go, and I'll give it to you!" said Harry desperately.

A few of the Death Eaters laughed.

"You are not in a position to bargain, Potter," said Malfoy, his pale face morphing into a sneer that could rival Snape's.

"You see, there are ten of us and only one of you...or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?"

"He's dnot alone!" shouted a voice from behind Harry. "He's still god me!"

Harry's heart sank: Neville was scrambling past Harry, Hermione's wand held fast in his trembling hand.

"Neville, no! Go back to Ron!"

 _"STUBEFY!"_ Neville shouted again, pointing his wand at each Death Eater in turn _. "STUBEFY! STUBE—"_

One of the largest Death Eaters seized Neville from the side, pinning his arms to his sides. He struggled and kicked while several of the Death Eaters laughed at him.

"It's Longbottom, isn't it?" said Lucius Malfoy with a sneer. "Well, your grandmother is used to losing family members to our cause...your death will not come as a great shock."

"Longbottom?" repeated Bellatrix, and a truly evil smile lit her gaunt face. "Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy."

"I DOE YOU HAB!" roared Neville, and he fought so hard against his captor's encircling grip that the Death Eater shouted, "Someone stun him!"

"No, no, no," said Bellatrix. She looked transformed, alive with excitement as she glanced at Harry, then back at Neville.

"No, let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents...unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."

"DON'D GIB ID DO DEM!" roared Neville, who seemed beside himself, kicking and writhing as Bellatrix drew nearer to him and his captor, her wand raised. "DON'D GIB ID DO DEM, HARRY!"

Bellatrix raised her wand. "Crucio!"

Neville screamed, his legs drawn up to his chest so that the Death Eater holding him was momentarily holding him off the ground. The Death Eater dropped him and he fell to the floor, twitching and screaming in agony.

"That was just a taster!" said Bellatrix, raising her wand so that Neville's screams stopped and he lay sobbing at her feet. She turned and gazed at Harry. "Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your little friend die the hard way!"

Harry did not have to think; there was no choice. The prophecy was hot with the heat of his clutching hand as he held it out. Malfoy jumped forwards to take it.

Then, high above them, two more doors burst open and five more people sprinted into the room: Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Kingsley.

 _Finally…what took them so long?_ Harry wondered.

Malfoy turned and raised his wand, but Tonks had already sent a stunning spell right at him.

Harry didn't wait to see whether it made contact, but dived off the dais out of the way. The Death Eaters were completely distracted by the appearance of the members of the Order who were now raining spells down upon them as they jumped from step to step towards the sunken floor. Through the darting bodies and flashes of light, Harry could see Neville crawling along. He dodged another jet of red light and flung himself flat on the ground to reach Neville.

"Are you OK?" he yelled, as another spell soared inches over their heads.

"Yes," said Neville, trying to pull himself up.

"And Ron?"

"I dink he's all righd - he was still fighting de brain when I lefd—"

The stone floor between them exploded as a blasting spell hit it, leaving a crater right where Neville's hand had been only seconds before. Both teenagers scrambled away from the spot, though Harry froze as a thick burly arm out of nowhere, seized him around his neck and squeezed, cutting off his supply of air.

"Give it to me," growled a voice in his ear. "Give me the prophecy!"

Through watering eyes Harry saw Sirius dueling with a Death Eater some ten feet away. Kingsley was fighting two at once and holding his own while Tonks, still halfway up the tiered seats, was firing spells down at Bellatrix.

Nobody seemed to realize that Harry was in dire straits, unable to breathe as the unknown Death Eater continued to choke him. He turned his wand backwards towards the man's side, but had no breath to utter an incantation. At the same time, the man's free hand was grappling with the hand in which Harry held the prophecy.

As his vision darkened in the corners, Harry mused that he would need to learn silent spell casting as well as healing magic if he ever made it out of this. _Merlin, why was I so lazy at Hogwarts?_ Harry wondered, cursing himself.

"AARGH!"

Neville had come lunging out of nowhere; unable to articulate a spell, he had jabbed Hermione's wand hard into the eyehole of the Death Eater's mask. The man relinquished Harry at once with a howl of pain. Harry whirled around to face him, wand pointed out and bellowed,

 _"STUPEFY!"_

The Death Eater keeled over backwards and his mask slipped off: it was Macnair, Buckbeak's would-be killer, one of his eyes now swollen and bloodshot.

"Thanks!" Harry said to Neville, pulling him aside as Sirius and his Death Eater lurched past, dueling so fiercely that their wands were blurs; then Harry's foot made contact with something round and hard and he slipped. For a moment he thought he had dropped the prophecy, but then he saw Moody's magical eye spinning away across the floor.

Its owner was lying on his side, bleeding from the head, and his attacker was now bearing down upon Harry and Neville; Dolohov, his long pale face twisted with glee.

 _"Tarantallegra!"_ he shouted, his wand pointing at Neville, whose legs went immediately into a kind of frenzied tap-dance, unbalancing him and causing him to fall to the floor again.

 _Huh, that is weird. Why would a Death Eater cast a harmless dancing jinx spell instead of an Unforgivable?_ Harry wondered in confusion.

"Now, Potter—"

He made the same slashing movement with his wand that he had used on Hermione just as Harry yelled, _"Protego!"_

For a moment, nothing happened as Harry's wand shuddered, then with a jolt the charm sprang to life, encasing the teenager in a blue shield. Harry noticed with alarm that the normally sturdy shield looked weak and unstable.

Harry grunted as he felt something streak across his face like a blunt knife; the force of it knocked him sideways and he fell over Neville's jerking legs, but the Shield Charm had stopped the worst of the spell.

Dolohov raised his wand again. _"Accio proph—"_

Sirius hurtled out of nowhere, rammed Dolohov with his shoulder, and sent him flying out of the way. The prophecy again shifted to the tips of Harry's fingers, but he had managed to cling on to it. Now Sirius and Dolohov were dueling, their wands flashing like swords, sparks flying from their wand-tips.

Dolohov drew back his wand to make the same slashing movement he had used on Harry and Hermione. Springing up, Harry yelled, _"Petrificus Totalus!"_ Once again, Harry's wand shuddered and after a weak jolt, Dolohov's arms and legs snapped together as he keeled over backwards, landing with a crash on his back.

"Nice one!" shouted Sirius, before he forced Harry's head down as a pair of Stunning Spells flew towards them. Harry for his part just frowned and glared at his wand. For a while he had noticed his magic had been acting up and every time he had sent a spell, the magic refused to cooperate. Ever since he had been hit with….

 _The time-turner…!_ Harry yelled inwardly. He had no time to think further as Sirius interrupted his thoughts.

"Now I want you to get out of—"

They both ducked again; a jet of green light had narrowly missed Sirius. Across the room Harry saw Tonks fall from halfway up the stone steps, her limp form toppling from stone seat to stone seat and Bellatrix, triumphant, running back towards the fray.

"Harry, take the prophecy, grab Neville and run!" Sirius yelled, dashing to meet Bellatrix. Harry had no time to argue, despite how desperate he was to help Sirius. Just then Kingsley danced in front of his field of vision, fending off a flurry of spells that ricocheted off the pavement nearby. Harry dodged as another jet of green light flew over his head and he launched himself towards Neville.

"Can you stand?" he bellowed in Neville's ear, as Neville's legs jerked and twitched uncontrollably. "Put your arm round my neck."

Harry pointed his wand at Neville's legs and whispered, _"Finite Incantatem."_

To his growing annoyance, Harry's wand continued to jerk before spluttering a weak spell which barely managed to counter the jinx on Neville's legs. Out of nowhere, a black clad Death Eater lunged at them forcing both teenagers to fall backwards. Harry hugged the prophecy to his chest with his left hand before it could smash to pieces on the marble pavement as they fell.

"The prophecy, give me the prophecy, Potter!" snarled Lucius Malfoy's voice in his ear, and Harry felt the tip of Malfoy's wand pressing hard between his ribs.

"No, get off me...Neville - catch it!"

Harry flung the prophecy across the floor in Neville's direction. The young herbologist quickly spun his bulky frame and clasped the delicate ball, clutching it to his chest.

Malfoy pointed the wand instead at Neville, but Harry jabbed his own wand back over his shoulder and yelled, _"Impedimenta!"_ With a quake, Harry's wand sputtered before the spell shot forward, directly at Malfoy.

Malfoy was blasted off his back. As Harry scrambled up again he looked around and saw Malfoy smash into the dais on which Sirius and Bellatrix were now dueling. Malfoy aimed his wand at Harry and Neville again, but before he could draw breath to strike, Lupin had jumped between them.

"Harry, round up the others and GO!"

Harry seized Neville by the shoulder of his robes and lifted him bodily on to the first tier of stone steps. The teenagers numbly climbed the steps when a spell hit the stone at Harry's heel. The step buckled under Harry's weight, forcing him to trip along with Neville.

"Come on!" said Harry desperately, hauling at Neville's robes. "Just try and push with your legs…"

He gave a strained heave, lifting Neville upright so forcefully that his sandy-haired friend to dropped the small, reflective glass ball. Before either of them could catch it, one of Neville's floundering feet kicked it, propelling it some ten feet to their right where it smashed on the step beneath them.

As both of them stared at the place where it had broken, appalled at what had happened, a pearly-white figure with hugely magnified glasses rose into the air, unnoticed by any but them. Harry could see its mouth moving, but in all the crashes and screams and yells surrounding them, not one word of the prophecy could be heard. The figure stopped speaking and dissolved into nothingness.

"Harry, I'b sorry!" cried Neville, his face anguished as his legs continued to flounder. "Tb so sorry, Harry, I didn'd bean do –"

"It doesn't matter!" Harry shouted. "Just try and stand, let's get out of—"

"Dubbledore!" said Neville, his sweaty face suddenly transformed into relief, staring over Harry's shoulder.

"What?"

"DUBBLEDORE!"

Harry turned to look where Neville was staring. Directly above them, framed in the doorway from the Brain Room, stood Albus Dumbledore, his wand aloft, his face white and furious. Harry felt the tension rolling away as he looked the Headmaster up and down, though he could also feel his anger rising at the old wizard's tardiness.

Dumbledore sped down the steps past Neville and Harry, who had no more thoughts of leaving. Dumbledore was already at the foot of the steps when the Death Eaters nearest realized he was there and yelled to the others. One of the Death Eaters ran for it, scrabbling like a monkey up the stone steps opposite. Dumbledore's spell pulled him back as easily and effortlessly as though he had hooked him with an invisible line.

Only one pair was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Harry watched as Sirius ducked Bellatrix's jet of red light, laughing at her the entire time.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.

The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest. The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.

 _No, no, no, no!_ Harry screamed inwardly. … _Wait, that spell was red which means it wasn't the killing curse._

Harry released Neville, though he was unaware of doing so. He jumped down the steps again and pulled out his wand, as Dumbledore, too, turned towards the dais. Harry's first thought was to use the Summoning charm on Sirius, but he recalled his magic was effectively malfunctioning. So he ran fast as possible towards Sirius, arms extended to catch him.

It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall; his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil hanging from the arch.

Harry started panicking, and a pressure built up in his chest similar to his earlier, bizarre encounter with the Death Eater's re-growing head in the Time chamber. The buzz in his ears returned with a vengeance and reached a crescendo before abruptly ending in silence. Moments thereafter, time seemed to slow down, slow enough that Harry could see every spell being cast, moving through the air in slow motion.

Harry turned to his godfather who was also moving in slow motion and saw him falling towards the arch, moving perceptively slow like everyone else in the room. Without warning, time sped up again, the pressure and the buzz now absent. The strange occurrence puzzled Harry as spells went flying at normal speed. Both the Death Eaters and the Order were running around dodging and casting without faltering as if the event never happened. Harry shook his head and filed that information away for later.

Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once-handsome face, which morphed into a serene, impish smile that was tinged with sadness at Harry and winked at him as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind, then fell back into place.

Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing. Sirius had only just fallen through the Archway, he would reappear from the other side any second...

But Sirius did not reappear.

"SIRIUS!" Harry screamed. "SIRIUS!"

He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out...

But as he reached the ground and sprinted towards the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry..."

"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"

"...it's too late, Harry."

"We can still reach him!" Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go...

"There's nothing you can do, Harry...nothing...he's gone."

 _"ACCIO SIRIUS BLACK!"_

Harry bellowed at the top of his voice. His wand was pointed straight dead center at the archway, and this time the Holly and Phoenix wand instantly responded to his command. However, as Harry poured more magic into his wand, he felt a tremendous resistance. The wand in his hand began to heat up until it was burning his skin, and Harry had to grab onto the wood with both hands as it started to pull towards the Veil.

"Harry, stop…you will drain your magic," cried Lupin. "You're already showing signs of magical exhaustion".

Harry grunted as the wand started to shake, the wood was discharging copious amounts of smoke now and he could feel the tug on his magical core.

"Moony, help me get Sirius," Harry gasped.

"Harry…he's gone!"

"NO! Why won't you help me?" Harry screamed desperately.

With a cry, Harry dropped the spell and wept in despair as Lupin placed a hand on the young boy. Lupin started to pull Harry away gently, try to coax him out of his shell shocked state.

With a start, Harry twisted out of Lupin's arm and glanced around searching for the reason for his current grief. In moments he found her, the woman who had caused so much angst and misery. Bellatrix Lestrange took one look at Harry and ran out of the room, all the while cackling with mirth.

"This isn't over!" Harry spoke in a deadly monotone.

With that Harry ran after her.

* * *

… **.End Flashback**

"I followed Lestrange all the way to the Atrium where I tried to curse her, for some reason my magic was sluggish and dodgy and my spells were dreadfully weak," Harry explained.

"A few taunts and some….err unsolicited tutelage by Lestrange later, Voldemort and Dumbledore arrived and started dueling each other while I got out of the way." Harry did not mention Voldemort's attempted possession, nor that he had attempted a failed Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix. Something things were best left unsaid…

Harry balled his fists as he finished his tale and stared intently at Madam Pomfrey.

"I was so useless, the way Voldemort and Dumbledore fought…it was insane," Harry said as he sighed dejectedly.

"They moved so fast and had an entire repertoire of magic I have never seen before. I think...no, I _know_ I want to fight like that and be better than them one day, but both of them have decades of knowledge and experience over me!"

Surreptitiously, Harry began to think of ways to get better and prove to the world that he was no pushover; he would start by studying harder and excelling in his subjects at Hogwarts. More than that, he didn't want anyone else to die on his part so he would start using his 'Slytherin' side more often. He would have to learn magic that normally wouldn't be taught at Hogwarts, even find a way to leave the Dursley's forever without alerting Dumbledore or the Order.

As far as the world was concerned, Harry was an average student with acceptable grades, save for Defense Against the Dark Arts. No one knew that Harry was as intelligent as his mother, Lily Potter, but kept his grades at an average level for obvious reasons. Truthfully, he was still afraid of reprisals from the Dursleys should they ever get a hold of his school marks from Hogwarts. Harry could still remember when he brought home his first muggle school marks, showing top scores on all subjects. Later that night, he received ten belt lashings and no food for two days for 'being smarter' than Dudley, who for his part failed all his subjects.

From that day forward, Harry had made sure to downplay his intelligence and keep his head down. Since the Dursley's were essentially still his guardians, Harry wasn't certain whether his abusive family was still receiving school reports from Hogwarts or not.

He had to grudgingly admit, though, that the Dursley's were only partially the reason for his average marks at Hogwarts. Harry also didn't want to alienate Ron by revealing his above average intelligence. The chance of estranging his friend and being alone and friendless once more was a prospect that Harry did not enjoy. He may not have liked the same subjects as Ron, but he certainly liked his friend's company, at least when the ginger boy wasn't being a jealous and insecure git.

There were times when he just wanted to strangle Ron whenever the Divinations teacher, Sybill Trelawney, predicted Harry's death - something that happened on a regular basis in class. Why he had picked Divinations was a constant question on his mind. Shaking his head, Harry could only guess that his abuse at the hands of the Dursleys was more profound than he cared to admit.

He would have to start making the right decisions if he were to survive the confrontations with Voldemort, confrontations which he was certain would happen, even if Ron flipped over his new course choices. For some reason, Voldemort had an unhealthy obsession with Harry, and today marked his fourth confrontation with the self-styled Dark Lord.

"...and please bring Albus to the Hospital wing," Pomfrey ordered, interrupting Harry's mental ramblings. With a pop, the house elf went to fetch Professor Dumbledore.

Harry almost jumped with a start, as he'd failed to notice the house elf, then gazed at Madam Pomfrey curiously.

"So what's the verdict, doc?" Harry drawled, futilely botching the American accent with a grimace.

For a second, the Matron lost her composure as she gaped at Harry then pointed at his chest where the wound was still bleeding profusely.

"I should think this is no laughing matter, Mr. Potter, as magical wounds have a way of resisting the best attempts to heal…your lightning scar is an obvious example," Pomfrey chastised.

"I have informed the Headmaster, and he will be here momentarily. While we wait, I'll try to heal that nasty cut, but if my suspicions are correct we may have a problem".

Pulling her wand out, Madam Pomfrey started casting various healing spells over Harry's chest while picking up a glass phial filled with a foul smelling potion and handed it to Harry. "Here, drink this, Harry, and lay back".

 _"Tegeo,"_ Pomfrey incanted. The dried blood covering Harry's chest and around the wound cleared rapidly, leaving only angry red lattice wounds which almost immediately started flowing with more blood.

"Hmmm... _Vulnera Sanentur._ "

 _"Reparifors."_

 _"Vestigia Retrorsum."_

With each spell, the lattice cuts would close then reopen with a vengeance. Madam Pomfrey's frown deepened by the minute and she glanced worriedly at Harry.

 _"Lenio,"_ Madam Pomfrey whispered, in a strained voice. She glared at the wound and nodded as if confirming something.

Harry could feel the last spell working as it seemed to numb the sharp jagged pain, so he deduced the spell to be some pain-numbing charm.

With a start, the curtains around Harry's bed opened with a flourish and Professor Dumbledore came to a stop at the foot of Harry's bed. Harry's attention however was not on the aging headmaster, but rather on his best friend, Hermione, as she limped to Harry's side.

"Harry! I was so worried about you," Hermione wheezed. Harry looked at her properly for the first time since the fight and realized with guilt that he was the cause of Hermione's injury. The chestnut brown eyes, filled with pain, stared back at him; her hair was even bushier than normal, which Harry thought made Hermione all the more beautiful.

"Don't even think about it, it was not your fault!" Hermione said firmly.

"How—"

"I know you Harry, you're thinking all of this was your fault and if you had learnt Occlumency maybe none of this would happen".

Hermione gripped Harry's arm, forcing him to stare into her warm, brown eyes.

"Vol-Voldemort could have just as easily stormed into the _Daily Prophet_ and ordered them to print a front page article on how Sirius was captured, and you still would have come and tried to save him all the same!" Hermione paused as she stared into a sea of deep emerald eyes.

"So what if he sent false images to you through your connection, you are not at fault – especially when Professor Snape method of teaching you Occlumency leaves much to be desired".

Harry exhaled sharply, looking down. "You're right, if I saw the paper I would have still come running recklessly to try to save Sirius…and I still would have gotten him killed".

"Harry—"

"No Hermione, this is on me," Harry interrupted her. "If I had checked the mirror before going to the Ministry I would have found out that Sirius was still safe and that this was all a rouse".

"But—"

"So why can't you heal me Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked grimly before Hermione could continue. He felt guilty when he saw the hurt in her eyes as she looked at him before he turned to the medi-witch. Harry sighed inwardly and rubbed his eyes. The raven-haired teenager just wanted to forget this day and fall unconscious to an ocean of dreams that would wash away the grief.

"Madam Pomfrey?" The Headmaster inquired.

"Well the problem is I have tried every healing spell I know, and not even the potions work on knitting the skin back together," Pomfrey replied in a strained voice.

The medi-witch had to restrain herself from admonishing Hermione from walking about in her present state after being cursed with dark laceration spell. She could see how close Harry and Hermione were, though, and reluctantly she kept an eye on Hermione for first sign her deep gash re-opening.

"This is without a doubt a magical wound which cannot be healed by normal means…and in most cases magical wounds can be purged with the use of a purging potion that removes trace amounts of any foreign magic that are preventing healing," Pomfrey stated.

"Unfortunately, the magic of the golden time sand has, for lack of better word, contaminated Harry's magical core and…well merged with it," Pomfrey said unhappily. "There is nothing I can do to remove the sand or the foreign magic. Even if I could, I wouldn't because we know so little about the effects or even the substance of time sand…not even the Unspeakables know much about it".

Madam Pomfrey grimaced as she continued.

"At this time there is no spell or potion that can close that wound, and while it is not a deep wound, I cannot stop your bleeding." She paused and glanced at Harry. "If I don't find a way to stop the bleeding, you will die from blood loss in a week".

"So cauterize the wound," Harry said simply.

"You misunderstand me, Mr. Potter. If the knitting spells that heal the skin don't work, then simply branding yourself with a hot iron poker will also not work," Pomfrey rebuked. "Might I remind you that those spells basically cauterize the wounds? This is a magical injury we are dealing with, perhaps even worse than your cursed scar."

Hermione gasped, her hands moved to cover her mouth.

"Well…sodden flying tits," Harry whispered.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Stay tuned for more...**


	2. Chapter 2 - Revelations

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, _"Hey, I know what you're thinking...no it's not what it looks like. Harry aint a slave and I'm not the master so Human Rights activists, take a chill pill..so onwards with the story."_

 ** ** _I would like to thank Philosophize and Angy2015 for their valuable time editing this story. Their corrections make it a more enjoyable read for everyone._****

* * *

Chapter 2

"Great flying tits," Harry exclaimed for what felt like the hundredth time. He glared at the tattered book, entitled ' _Magical injuries and its effects,'_ and flung it on top of the piling mass of books on the library table. The book landed with a heavy thump that would most likely have brought Madam Pince down on Harry for the loud noise and abuse of the books. In his current mood, though, Harry didn't much care. Ever since the revelation that he was dying from a magical injury that refused to heal, Harry couldn't care less about detentions or house points.

After all, he had less than a week to figure out how to heal his chest injury before he died from blood loss. The constant seeping of blood through the white bandage supplied by Madam Pomfrey didn't look promising and reminded Harry constantly of his own mortality.

Sure enough, Madam Pince came to a halt in front of Harry with hands on her hips and she glared irritably at him.

"Mr Potter, what did I say about making noises?" The Librarian pointed bony fingers at the pile of books to emphasis her point. "If you so much as scratch any of those books, there will be trouble young man."

"I'm sorry Madam Pince – I'll try and keep it down," Harry said quietly. He ran his fingers through his unruly hair and sighed.

"While I heard about what happened to your situation, that does not excuse you from disrupting my library Mr Potter," Madam Pince said firmly.

"I want you to clean this mess and leave the library. I don't want to see you back here again today".

Just as Harry was about to reply, Hermione strode to his table with a bundle of books and looked at how the Librarian was towering over Harry. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on, although it was questionable whether Ron would fit into that category, as the boy was often oblivious to by-plays. Hermione matched Madam Pince's stance with hands on her hips and raised an inquisitive look at Harry.

"Harry, what did you do this time?" Hermione asked. Before he could answer, she turned to the Librarian and said, "Madam Pince, I'm sorry if Harry did anything rash and I'll make sure to keep a close eye on him...we'll be very quiet, won't we Harry?"

Hermione directed her gazed to Harry with a silent gesture, her eyes hardened minutely. _**Don't you dare do anything stupid Harry James Potter!**_

Harry didn't miss the hidden message in that question. Even Ron wouldn't have been able to miss it, right?

"Yes um, I was getting frustrated and couldn't find an answer to my... problem. I will be quiet as a mouse from now on," Harry responded with a hitch in his voice.

Hermione grinned and a glint appeared in her eyes. Harry gulped – inaudibly.

The byplay didn't go unnoticed as Madam Pince watched on with mirth. Schooling her features, Madam Pince looked hard at the duo before she sighed audibly.

"Well, I will give you one more chance, just keep the noise down young man," Pince said with a scowl directed at Harry.

"Yes ma'am," Harry responded quickly.

The librarian gave a curt nod and strolled away. Harry exhaled and with a glance at Hermione, he muttered a _"Silencio"_ on the table. Without fanfare, Harry thumped his forehead against the surface of the tabletop repeatedly while the spell worked overtime to silence the smacking noise.

"Honestly Harry, at this rate you'll die of a brain aneurysm before..." Hermione trailed off. She inwardly kicked herself as she realized what she was about to say.

"It's ok Hermione, you can say it - I have one week before I kick the bucket," Harry said grimly. "...What's a little brain clot compared to a magical wound?"

Harry paused as he glared at the books on the table. He grinned up at Hermione who was flicking through the pages of a book in her hands.

"Who knows, I probably can't even get a blood clot with all the blood I'm losing," Harry said introspectively.

"Don't even joke about this Harry, we'll find a solution in the books," Hermione rebuked. She sighed and snapped the book shut and pulled another one from the pile.

She looked carefully at Harry from time to time as Harry gazed into space. Hermione wanted to bring up the subject of Sirius to help Harry through the grief and guilt she was certain he was going through. She could see the misery and despair etched on his face no matter how hard he tried to hide it and it broke her heart to see him this way. There was a rapid movement in the corner of her eye and she looked up to find Harry carelessly throwing a book on top of the pile in frustration.

Harry sighed and rubbed his scar for a minute, wondering why he had been fooled so easily by the vision that Voldemort sent through the scar. All he'd needed to do was contact Sirius through the damn mirror instead of relying on an untrustworthy malcontent house elf that wanted nothing to do with his ' _blood traitor'_ master. His godfather would still be alive and his friends would not have been injured – especially Hermione – if he hadn't made so many mistakes.

Harry trailed a finger across the famous scar that made him renowned throughout Britain. Ever since Madam Pomfrey had released Harry and Hermione two days ago, he would often rub his scar subconsciously. There had to be more to this scar than a normal dark curse infliction, Harry reasoned. After all, it certainly wasn't normal to receive visions from the most powerful dark lord of this day and age, especially considering Voldemort had been weak and vulnerable as a wraith before his resurrection. It was even more unusual to be in great pain and almost impotent in Voldemort's very presence after his rebirth. If Harry could almost black out in great pain just merely being in his presence, then how could he stand and defend himself against this powerful foe?

Harry sighed and glanced at Hermione as she nibbled her bottom lip while reading the book in her hand. He would have to find a way to overcome this debilitating weakness of his scar, otherwise he wouldn't be able to protect Hermione or anyone else, much less defend himself against Voldemort. If he wanted to get more powerful, he would have to start studying diligently at Hogwarts, which would put Ron at a crossroad with their friendship. Harry had a nagging suspicion that Ron would react poorly to his choices and start accusing Hermione of transforming Harry into a bibliophile. Shaking his head, Harry was about to grab a tattered book, hoping that it might contain a way to heal his cursed injury, when Fawkes appeared in a burst of fire.

Both Harry and Hermione jumped with a start while Fawkes landed on the table between them and trilled in greeting. The fiery red phoenix dropped a piece of parchment in front of Harry who reached out and caressed his feathery crown.

"Hello Fawkes, it has been awhile," Harry greeted Fawkes warmly. The phoenix trilled in response.

Harry continued to stroke Fawkes as he read the short missive from Dumbledore, wondering why it sounded oddly formal...too generic for his taste, especially when his godfather had just passed away. Harry was expecting to confront Dumbledore and he suspected that the Headmaster knew it, but this note irked Harry to no end.

"Well? What does it say?" Hermione inquired.

Harry blinked then replied, "Dumbledore wants to see me now...I suspect he is going to explain a few things that have been bothering me for the last couple days."

Harry grimaced and glanced darkly at Hermione. "...and I have a few questions of my own that need answering".

"I can come with – just let me grab a few books first..." said Hermione.

"No it's ok, I think Dumbledore wants me to come alone. Anyway I don't think we'll find anything these books," Harry replied, shaking his head as he gestured to the pile on the table. "We've already been through them twice, and there's nothing in them that helps me".

"You're right, but I'll keep trying in case I missed something," Hermione said with a forlorn sigh. Harry nodded to her and stood to leave the library. Fawkes trilled a single note and left in the usual burst of fire.

"And Harry...listen to what Dumbledore has to say before you get too mad," Hermione called out .

Harry turned back and nodded. Hermione knew him too well, it seemed, but unlike every other time Harry wouldn't charge in, Gryffindor-style. This time he would bring his 'Slytherin' side to play.

"I'll see you later, Mia."

"Later Har- I...you," Hermione stuttered and whipped her head to the receding raven-haired teenager who was already out of earshot.

"What did you say?" Hermione whispered to no one in particular.

* * *

Outside the library, Harry did a double take and grimaced as a group of second year students almost crashed into him. Harry didn't notice their glares as they navigated around him; he was too engrossed in his internal mantra ramblings to give anything but a barely fleeting apology before strolling towards the Headmaster's office.

 _Why did I call her that? Why did I call her Mia? Why do I feel strange around her...I mean ever since the Ministry fiasco, I feel so protective of her. It's not like I fancy her or anything, and Ron said he fancied her so it's not like I have a chance, do I?_

Harry scowled deeply as he continued on his way from the first floor towards the Headmaster's tower as he tried to understand what just happened. In his opinion that was about as hard as deciphering what the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything was.

As he passed by the entrance to the Great Hall, he was accosted by none other than Ronald Weasley who had a floppy distended stomach as he swaggered toward Harry. From the looks of things, it appeared Ron had engulfed an entire fifty or so food servings to satisfy his hourly quota.

"Oi, all right there mate?" Ron asked with a belch.

Harry's sentiments couldn't agree more with the group of sixth year Slytherin girls nearby as they gave looks of sheer disgust at Ron. Harry could only sigh before plastering on a smile that wouldn't have fooled a five year old child.

"Splendid, just peachy thanks – I heard Madam Pomfrey released you this afternoon. That business with the brains sounded nasty, yeah?"

Inwardly, Harry couldn't imagine what kind of damage those brains at the Ministry did and truthfully he didn't want to know. Sadly, that was not to be as Ron gave a belated belch before replying.

"Yeah that was a right full menace... *Belch*... I heard some Unspeakable explaining to Pomfrey how the brains work and I'm dead certain that the brain thingy is supposed to latch on and make people smarter according to their intelligence, funny that".

Harry stared at Ron with mouth slightly agape before shaking his head. _Ugh, no more of manga for me._ Harry closed his eyes and shook his head in an effort to rid himself of the unwelcome images of the disturbing, Japanese tentacle comics he'd once found in his cousin's room _. I'm never digging through Dudley's stash again. Never!"_ Harry thought with a grimace.

"Wait, you mean the brain tentacles...thingy are supposed to make you smarter if you're already smart?" _Yep, way too much tentacle manga..._

"Yeah that's right mate!"

Harry could already feel a headache coming.

"Soooo what happens if the brain latches onto a daft person then?" Harry inquired, feeling his right eye twitching.

"I think – well Pomfrey said if it latched onto a dumb somebody, the brain thingy is supposed to make them even dumber," Ron replied with a silly grin.

"Err... yeah, funny that," Harry said with a straight face. He could vividly remember how Ron had acted at the Ministry immediately after his encounter with the brains.

Harry couldn't understand how Ron could be an excellent chess player. It had to be dumb luck. Harry could see Professor McGonagall parroting her idiom in his head over and over, '... _sheer dumb luck'_ all while singing 'It's a Sad Day' by Pinetop Perkins.

Harry shook himself of his daydreaming and squinted at Ron over the faded rims of his round glasses to find the red-haired boy following him.

"Look, Ron, I'm headed to Professor Dumbledore's office, so I'll see you later, yeah?" Harry didn't wait for a reply and skipped off with an extra beat.

"Oh well I'll just...err," Ron faltered. The ginger, freckled teenager noticed that the same group of sixth year Slytherin girls were staring flabbergasted at him.

"What? W'chu staring at, you slimy snakes?"

Needless to say, they couldn't get away fast enough as Ron grumbled all the way to the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

Harry stumbled as he came to an end before the Gargoyle. He was panting from the excursion and the feeling of lightheadedness pervaded his senses briefly. _No doubt it's the effects of blood loss_. _I don't know why I am so surprised, Madam Pomfrey warned me against doing anything strenuous,_ Harry surmised _._

"Err – Please let me through," Harry prompted the Gargoyle statue.

The dark bronze statue remained stubbornly unmoving. Harry could have sworn not long ago that the statue had been an ugly stone, not the bronze sculpture standing rigid before him. The gargoyle gazed at Harry for a second before resuming its stance.

"Um – Lemon Drops?"

"Mint Licorice?"

"Chocolate Mice?"

The statue didn't even twitch. Harry's eyebrow did though.

"Jelly Babies?"

"Argh - just open, Dumbledore invited me," Harry shouted at the statue. Harry's patience snapped as he glared at the bronze bird. He was not in the mood to talk with an imprudent statue, especially when the old codger behind it had some explaining to do.

Harry swiftly pulled his wand out and aimed it at the statue. There was a blue glow that formed on the tip of his wand.

"Move or I'll hex you!" Harry all but shouted.

The statue stood resolutely, even somehow looking faintly smug at Harry.

"Ok fine - let's see ho..." Harry paused, and then a malicious smile formed at the corners of his mouth.

"You asked for it," Harry serenaded.

Harry frowned as he struggled to cast his erratically behaving magic in the center of the statue. The teenager tilted his head to the side as he watched as his magic took shape and smiled in satisfaction. It seemed that his natural affinity for Transfiguration and Charms allowed him some leeway with his malfunctioning magic, if only a little.

"Ready to let me in now or should I continue?" Harry asked.

With a distinctly feminine yelp, the statue jumped to the side to allow Harry passage. Harry grinned wickedly before he climbed the stairs to the top where he found the dark wooden oak door already ajar. Harry entered the office and saw that Dumbledore's various knick-knacks and furniture remained unchanged. The delicate silver instruments were still spinning on the spindle-legged tables, puffing and whirring serenely. The portraits of the headmasters and headmistresses were snoozing in their frames, oblivious to the trilling, soothing noises coming from Dumbledore's phoenix familiar.

Harry found Dumbledore sitting behind his regal desk who had noticed the young teenager enter and frowned in thought.

"Ah Harry, I trust you didn't have any trouble making your way here?"

"No, just splendid – you know, just learning why certain brains and Neanderthals don't mix...oh and did I mention I did some renovating on my way here?" Harry asked sarcastically. _**Arse.**_ Harry inwardly seethed as he stared at Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. _Next time write down the password in your note, old codger..._

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose up past his aging hairline, and his mesmerizing, twinkling eyes stared at the young raven-haired teenager.

"Well, Harry," Dumbledore said, finally turning to pat Fawkes, "you'll be pleased to hear that none of your fellow students are going to suffer any lasting damage from the events at the Ministry".

Harry almost did a double take but managed to look unfazed. _Everyone except me,_ Harry thought glumly. If Harry hadn't known any better, he would have thought that Dumbledore was intentionally reminding him of the amount of damage he had caused.

"Madam Pomfrey has patched everybody up," continued Dumbledore. "Nymphadora Tonks may need to spend a little time in St. Mungo's, but it seems she will make a full recovery."

Harry's ire was beginning to rise as Dumbledore punctuated each word with an ever increasing twinkle in his eyes. It seemed as though the old Headmaster was scolding Harry in a subtle manner, all the while acting as if Harry's godfather hadn't died, like forecasting the weather with certain detachment.

Harry was about to explode with anger when the door behind him slammed open and Professor Snape marched in with his cape flapping around.

"Why wer—"

"Headmaster, someone altered the gargoyle!" Snape interrupted.

"Oh, do tell?" Dumbledore looked at Snape than gazed at Harry inquisitively.

"I recommend a month's' worth of cleaning cauldrons if the culprit is found, and..." Snape began.

"Severus, would you care to explain what happened to the statue?" Dumbledore interrupted him.

"Headmaster, the statue has a big pair of...you know," Snape said as he gestured at his chest.

"Hmm?"

"Arrrgh, someone had the gall to carve _huge_ boobs, ahem... um... tits, oh for love of...a giant pair of bosoms on the statue!" Snape sputtered while trying to explain. If Harry didn't know any better, he could almost taste the bittersweet self-condemnation of an old greasy git who never shagged a women before with the way he stammered. Harry chortled silently, trying to keep a straight face as he watched the byplay.

At that moment Snape noticed Harry standing off to the side much to his horror, and started turning beetred, which was a feat in itself considering his oily, pale complexion.

"Potter if you say one word about this, I'll place you in detention until you've graduated Hogwarts," Snape all but shouted.

Harry smirked but said nothing. He was going to memorize this moment forever and use the memory for his Patronus charm...maybe even use it as blackmail material. Needless to say, Harry didn't think the Dementors would stand a chance now.

As amusing as this was, Harry was annoyed at how easily Dumbledore had riled him up before Snape's interruption and if he wanted some answers, he needed his Slytherin side. So he violently shoved his impulsiveness aside and schooled his features into one of indifference.

"Thank you Severus, if that is all you may go," Dumbledore said with a frown.

"Albus, I came to report that the Dark Lord is very angry. Since his top followers have been captured, he has been attempting to recruit more followers into the fold. While I do not know what he will do, I am certain he may try to break his top ranks out of Azkaban soon," Snape drawled.

"Thank you, we will talk more on this tomorrow I believe," Dumbledore said dismissively.

Snape nodded and turned to leave. He paused at the door and glared at Harry intensely. "Not a word, Potter!"

Harry shrugged as Snape left and turned to face Dumbledore. The teenager stared off into space, suddenly remembering Dumbledore's skills at Legilimency. Harry wasn't certain whether Dumbledore used Legilimency on students like Snape, but he did not want to give the old headmaster the chance.

Before Dumbledore could get a chance to open his mouth, Harry interrupted him with a cold glare.

"Professor Dumbledore, I'm going to ask some questions and I'd like some straight answers, sir!" Harry said.

"Harry, my boy, I know you are upset about your godfather dying, but he wouldn't have wanted you to languish and despair. After all, he has been reunited with your parents in the next great adventure," said Dumbledore in a grandfatherly manner. The Headmaster continued to stroke Fawkes while he gazed at Harry, eyes twinkling at full blast.

Harry had to consciously refrain from going full tantrum mode at that. It wasn't enough that his family had died to protect him from a deranged dark wizard, but his last remaining link to his parents had just died to save him, too. His one chance to live with his godfather was forever gone, and since Remus Lupin had been absent most of Harry's life dealing with a furry problem, the teenager didn't count the werewolf as close family. Harry wasn't sure how far he could trust Remus, as he seemed to blindly trust Dumbledore. He hadn't even bothered to check on Harry at the Dursley's to see if he was living a healthy childhood.

Harry exhaled slowly, reining in his anger. He would not give Dumbledore the satisfaction of losing control, especially when it seemed as though Dumbledore had deliberately raised Harry's ire to deflect his prodding questions.

"Why did it take you and the Order so long to get to the ministry? I mean – as soon as Snape told the Order, it should have taken you minutes by floo or apparition, while a bunch of school kids took hours on the back of flying Thestrals to reach there," Harry asked, his irritation visible.

"Well Harry, _Professor_ Snape took some time tracking me down, after all I was in hiding and the Ministry was still looking for me to send me to Azkaban." Dumbledore replied. Truth be told, it had taken only fourteen minutes for Severus to track him down and notify him of the situation, but he wasn't about to tell Harry that.

"As for the Order, it seemed they were aware of what happened the minute Sirius confronted Kreacher about the floo call, and when he realized what the elf had done he rallied everyone just before Professor Snape himself made to warn them. Severus had been told by Lord Voldemort that they were setting a trap on level ten, inside courtroom ten. So armed with that information, the Order went to the courtroom, only to discover you and your friends were not there. In hindsight, I should have realized that Voldemort had given faulty information as a diversionary tactic." Dumbledore sighed and crossed his elongated fingers.

Harry slowly nodded at this information and considered his next question.

"That brings me to my next question, why did you have Snape teach me Occlumency? That man hated me every minute and constantly mind raped me. What made it worse was that every time Snape would rape my mind, he would know that I am nothing like my father and yet he kept berating me for 'flaunting my celebrity status.' He would know that I..." _that I was mistreated at the Dursley's,_ Harry silently interjected.

"...didn't know about the wizarding world, so how could I be anything like a rich spoilt brat?. How can that greasy git hate me that much even after reading my mind?"

As Dumbledore was about to reply, Harry interrupted him in a slightly raised tone.

"Professor, you know that man is not capable of teaching, let alone fit to be around children. All he does is shout, "the instructions are on the board...go," then he sits in the corner, doing nothing for the rest of the class. Don't even get me started on Occlumency – 'Clear your mind' crap...please if I wanted to become a Mongolian monk don't you think I would have told you?" Harry nearly shouted.

"Harry, my boy, that is _Professor_ Snape for you and he deserves some respect. I am sure that Professor Snape's teaching methods in Potions is adequate, and while I am aware of his 'tough love' approach, it is necessary as he tells me when dealing with unruly students, don't you think?" said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling madly at Harry.

 **Tough Love?**

Harry could only stare at Dumbledore in sheer disbelief. He felt another headache starting with a vengeance and he was certain that it wasn't caused by the blood loss from his chest injury.

"I refuse to call him a professor because that would imply that I actually respect him, which he doesn't deserve unless he starts changing his attitude and teaches students properly without the bias and bigotry." Harry said firmly.

"Har—"

"And the Occlumency lessons?" Harry interrupted, already aware of the answer.

"Harry, Professor Snape assures me that his method is the quickest way to learn Occlumency, which you need in order to keep Voldemort out of your mind," Dumbledore replied with the faintest touch of annoyance on his lined face.

"You forced me to endure hours of mind raping on an almost daily basis, but you couldn't explain to me that Voldemort would use some stupid connection to send false images in my head?" Harry asked coldly. "Even worse, you intentionally avoided me all year like the plague. Why do you trust Snape so much? I mean, he is a Death Eater so he could be spying for Voldemort, playing both sides."

Dumbledore sighed sadly and stood up to face the window overlooking the Forbidden Forest. The fading sunlight over the mountain peaks in the distance slowly gave way to a newly minted moon in the twinkling sky.

"Harry, I trust Professor Snape with my life and I avoided you this year because I was indeed aware of your connection to Lord Voldemort. I thought that since you share a connection, my presence would inspire Voldemort to suffuse your mind with negative emotions regarding me." Dumbledore sighed yet again before turning to face Harry.

"I didn't want to burden you, so I did not explain your connection with Voldemort or why it was necessary to learn Occlumency with urgency, and for that I apologize".

Harry's lips thinned and he frowned at Dumbledore. He sensed the half-truths in Dumbledore's answers - they were as obvious as Christmas tree lights flashing in the dark. While he wasn't satisfied with the answers, he let it go in favor of learning more about this troublesome connection to Voldemort.

"Why does Voldemort have such an unhealthy obsession with me? He's been coming after me ever since first year at Hogwarts and he went after my parents personally for some reason," Harry asked.

Dumbledore regarded Harry for a moment then nodded, coming to a decision.

"Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a child because of a prophecy made shortly before your birth. He knew the prophecy had been made, though he did not know its full contents. He set out to kill you when you were still a baby, believing he was fulfilling the terms of the prophecy. He discovered, to his cost, that he was mistaken when the curse intended to kill you backfired. And so, since his return to his body, and particularly since your extraordinary escape from him last year, he has been determined to hear that prophecy in its entirety. This is the weapon he has been seeking so assiduously since his return: the knowledge of how to destroy you."

The moon had risen fully now; Dumbledore's office was bathed in the pale silver light. The glass case in which the sword of Godric Gryffindor resided gleamed white and opaque. To Harry's right, Fawkes continued to make soft trilling noises on his golden ledge.

"The prophecy's smashed – completely destroyed," Harry said blankly. He had too many emotions running through him to think properly in light of the revelation Dumbledore had just dumped on him. "I was pulling Neville up those benches in the... the room where the archway was, and I ripped his robes and it fell..."

"The ball that was destroyed..." at this Harry nodded, confirming Dumbledore's unasked question.

"...was merely the record of the prophecy kept by the Department of Mysteries. But the prophecy was made to somebody, and that person has the means of recalling it perfectly."

"Who heard it?" asked Harry, though he had a good idea who.

"I did," said Dumbledore. "On a cold, wet night sixteen years ago, in a room above the bar at the Hog's Head inn. I had gone there to see an applicant for the post of Divination professor, though it was against my inclination to allow the subject of Divination to continue at all. The applicant however was the great-great-granddaughter of a very famous, very gifted Seer, and I thought it common politeness to meet her. I was severely disappointed. It seemed to me that she had not a trace of the gift herself. I told her, courteously I hope, that I did not think she would be suitable for the post. I turned to leave."

Dumbledore navigated past his desk and walked to the black cabinet that stood beside Fawkes's perch. He bent down to unlock what appeared to be indented latch and took from inside a shallow stone basin, carved with runes around the edges, in which Harry had seen a memory of his father tormenting Snape.

Dumbledore walked back to the desk, placed the Pensieve upon it, and raised his wand to his own temple. From it, he withdrew silvery, glossary-fine strands of thought clinging to the wand and deposited them into the basin. He sat back down behind his desk and watched his thoughts swirl and drift inside the Pensieve for a moment. Then, with a sigh, he raised his wand and prodded the silvery substance with its tip.

A figure rose out of it, draped in shawls, her eyes magnified to an enormous size behind her glasses, and she revolved slowly, her feet in the basin. _If Hermione were here, she would most likely comment on how the Pensieve acted like a Hologram from some show called Star Crumbs...or was it Star Trek?_ Harry gave a small grin at that just as the figure in the basin spoke.

" _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."_

The slowly revolving figure of what appeared to be a younger version of Professor Trelawney sank back into the silver mass below and vanished.

Dumbledore picked up the Pensieve basin and walked back toward the cabinet where he placed it down and locked it away once more. Harry stared off into space, lost in a chaotic emotional storm as he repeated Trelawney's prophecy in his mind. He vaguely noticed as Dumbledore ambled back and sat down behind his desk, though too distracted to notice the old Headmaster watching him with close scrutiny.

For all of his life, Harry had been destined to fight a deranged dark lord hell-bent on ravaging the wizarding world according to some prophecy. His parents had died for him, his godfather had died for him, everyone he met either shunned him or put him up on a pedestal, leaving Harry to be friendless. Did that mean that his family had to die? _No, the prophecy didn't say anything about my parents and Sirius living or dying; it wouldn't have any effect on the outcome. They would be alive today if Voldemort hadn't believed in the prophecy,_ Harry thought _._

The only people that stood by his side were Hermione and Ron, though he wasn't sure about Ron's friendship as the redhead teenager had a tendency to abandon Harry at the worst of times. Twice in the past, Ron had abandoned Harry and had a propensity to run his mouth off, for which Harry had forgiven Ron both times. During the incident with the Chamber of Secrets, after his liberal use of Parseltongue ability, Ron had briefly started advertising that Harry was "going dark" to Seamus, Dean and Neville behind his back. Harry had pretended to be oblivious; hoping that it was just a phase Ron was going through.

Shortly after defeating the basilisk, Ron had started touting about how he had helped Harry kill the basilisk. In reality, Ron had been on the other side of a collapsed tunnel with a broken wand and an Obliviated Lockhart for company while Harry was fighting for his life. Harry hadn't minded at the time as Ron bragged in the Great Hall in front of every student, which served the purpose of taking some attention away from him.

Then last year during the Triwizard Tournament, Ron had gone a step too far and accused Harry of cheating his way into the contest for fame and glory, both of which he already had in abundance. For the longest time, their friendship had been destroyed with Ron calling him a liar and a cheater. It did not go unnoticed by Harry when Ron did not actually apologize after the first task, but rather in a roundabout way, Ron attempted to be back in Harry's good graces. _As if abandoning your friend is an everyday occurrence, not worthy of being apologetic,_ Harry thought, shaking his head.

Needless to say, he was leery of Ron's fragile relationship with him and considered him more of – an acquaintance rather than a friend these days. He was never going to trust Ron again. After all, what if Ron decided to abandon Harry again in the fight against Voldemort in the future? When he really thought about it, , Harry realized that he had only one friend. Hermione was the one he could rely on and trust. She was the one who gave him a sense of strength he could draw on, especially when he had a destiny to kill Voldemort.

Harry sighed and frowned in thought. Something was nagging him in the back of his head.

"Sir, how did Voldemort know of the prophecy when I was a baby? You said Professor Trelawney and you were in a room at Hog's Head inn, so that means someone had to have eavesdropped on you," Harry inquired.

"Unfortunately, there was a Death Eater just outside our door listening to the first half of the prophecy – alas he reported to Voldemort, and that was enough to drive Voldemort to hunt down your family and mark you...you see Tom Riddle was very much afraid of death, and the way the prophecy was worded, it convinced him to believe that he could well die if he didn't take action," Dumbledore replied, wary of Harry's alarmingly sharp deduction.

"WHO was it?" Harry demanded.

"You do not need to know who the Death Eater was, alas it was a long time ago and much has changed since then."

"Who was – you know what, never mind I'll find out myself." Harry glared at the Headmaster.

"Harry, my boy, now you understand why you have to go back to your relatives, the blood wards will protect you from Voldemort," Dumbledore said genially.

Harry blinked once, then twice, before exploding in pure rage. He was shaking as he glared venomously at Dumbledore who just gazed calmly back at Harry. _I can't take this anymore, forget being Slytherin..._

"I WILL NOT GO BACK THERE; THOSE ANIMALS HAVE TREATED ME LIKE GARBAGE EVER SINCE I CAN REMEMBER...I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Harry yelled at Dumbledore, snatching up the Lunascope instrument and throwing it into the fireplace.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE PROPHECY IN FIRST YEAR, HUH? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT MY CONNECTION WITH VOLDEMORT...IF YOU'D TOLD ME, SIRIUS MIGHT STILL BE ALIVE!"

In his induced rage, Harry seized the table on which the silver instruments stood and threw it against the wall, breaking the wooden table into splinters with the legs breaking off, rolling in different directions. Along with it, the silver instruments broke apart against the wall with a tinkling sound.

"Harry, I know you're hurting, but it is necessary for you to return to your relatives, after all you wouldn't leave their fate to Voldemort would you?" asked Dumbledore. He had not flinched or made a single move to stop Harry demolishing his office. His expression was calm, almost detached. "If the blood wards fall, then you know what will happen to them, Voldemort will kill them."

"I – DON'T...JUST DON'T...WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE SIRIUS. YOU ARE THE GREATEST WIZARD ALIVE AND UNABLE TO USE A SIMPLE SUMMONING CHARM ON MY GODFATHER TO STOP HIM FALLING BACK INTO THE VEIL. I saw you, you watched my godfather die without raising your wand." Harry screamed, his voice was already hoarse from shouting. He wanted nothing more than to rush at Dumbledore and break him, pummel his ancient, calm face into goo, shake him until he was seeing double and make him feel his own pain. Suddenly, he felt a cold dawning realization hit him as he stared at the old, manipulative man in front of him.

S _urely, no...no he wouldn't have let my godfather die...but if he could cast a wandless Aresto Momentum in third year when I was falling during the Quidditch game, then he could have done the same for Sirius. Unless he conveniently wanted Sirius out of the way so I would have to go back to the Dursleys._ Harry stared at the old headmaster with suspicion and frowned in thought.

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM FEELING OLD MAN...AND WHY THE HELL HAVEN'T YOU BEEN TRAINING ME SINCE FIRST YEAR TO PREPARE FOR VOLDEMORT? YOU KNEW HE WOULD COME BACK, AND ALL THIS TIME I HAVEN'T BEEN TRAINING!"

There was a beating pressure inside Harry's chest, expanding as a familiar buzz sounded in his ears reaching a crescendo, similar to what happened at the Department of Mysteries. As his anger rose, so did the searing pressure which spread from his chest to all over his body, ending at his extremities. Then it happened. Time slowed to a crawl and Harry could distantly see how slowly the headmasters and headmistresses of old moved in their picture frames, having woken from their slumber from Harry's shouting.

Harry could see Fawkes preening his feathers with a slowness that matched a snail's pace. He turned to see that Dumbledore's mouth was moving slowly as a deep bass sound came out. All of the sudden, the buzzing noise stopped, leaving an eerie ghostly quietness, and the intense pressure receded, but the teenager could still feel a gentle pressure in the center of his chest, similar to the feeling of one standing inside a building lift as it goes up, shifting the center of gravity along the way.

Harry looked around in amazement, his anger forgotten as he saw a bizarre sight before him. The picture frames, Fawkes, and Dumbledore were no longer moving perceptively slowly anymore. In fact, if Harry didn't know any better, everything appeared to be completely frozen. Dumbledore was frozen, his mouth open in mid-sentence, unmoving and silent. Harry walked around the desk and waved his hand in front of Dumbledore, and to his surprise, Dumbledore remained unmoving, staring frozen at the spot where Harry had previously been standing.

"Well...flying tits," Harry said in pure astonishment.

Harry glanced to the wall where a magical clock hung and saw that the minute hand was frozen along with everything else in the room. He spun to gaze at the moon outside which was also unmoving but what shocked him to his core was the brown owl suspended in mid-air, defying the gravity without the beat of wings.

Suddenly, it occurred to him that the time-turner sand had done something to him, causing him to – manipulate time? Or in the least slow down time? Could this be the 'power he knows not'? Harry wondered. The young teenager shrugged and then suddenly grinned. _Time,_ Harry chuckled, - _to do something the Weasley twins could only dream of._

"HEY old fart, did you know you have the worst bloody selection of vomit-inducing clothes I have ever seen?" Harry stated to the frozen Dumbledore. He could feel the tension leaving his body and anger draining away as he planned his revenge in the form of a prank.

"What...no argument? By the way, what's with the long-beard thing you have going there? Are you – god forbid - trying to compensate for something?" Harry shrugged, and then his face soured as if he had been sucking on too many lemons. He didn't want to know the answer to that question, though he couldn't help sniggering as he imagined how many detentions Dumbledore would give to Harry if he weren't frozen in time. Harry was almost in hysterics, and there was an edge of panic in his eyes, as he tried to comprehend what was happening to him. Was he hallucinating? With an abated breath, he calmed down and decided to do some research on this strange event, right after he found a way to stop dying.

"Alright enough of this, I don't know how long this time thing will be frozen, but I'd rather be anywhere but here," Harry said to no one in particular. Feeling rather childish, he grabbed a handful of sherbet lemons from Dumbledore's desk and plopped them into the still open-mouthed Headmaster. Not content until Dumbledore's mouth was bulging from too many sweets, Harry nodded to himself with satisfaction.

"Aaaand...I'm out of here," Harry murmured to himself, glaring at the frozen Dumbledore in disgust. Harry turned and stormed out of the office, down the flight of stairs where he saw two prefects frozen in mid-step, about to turn a corner. Harry stared at them in amazement as they remained unmoving, frozen in mid-conversation like everything else, but before he could ponder anymore, Harry felt a sharp pulse from his chest and a buzzing noise sounded just before his world spun. The sounds of activity returned, and the world was moving once more, the two prefects rounded the corner and their conversation faded as they moved out of earshot.

Harry suddenly gasped; his hands went to his chest where the injury was flaring sharply. He could feel a deep lethargy throughout his body and a nauseous feeling welled inside of him. He had felt this before, in the past when he had used too much magic which caused the onset of magical exhaustion. Whatever time ability he had thanks to the golden sand was tied to his magical core – which felt quite drained at the moment.

* * *

Harry decided to visit the Room of Requirement to sort out his thoughts in the relative peace and quiet of the secluded room. On his way to the seventh floor, he encountered Luna who happened to be strolling without a purpose along the corridor.

At a closer glance, Harry could see that Luna was once again barefoot on the cold stone floor and she appeared to be wearing nothing more than a plush yellow bathrobe. It didn't appear to do much to ward off the slight chill in the air if the goose bumps on her milky white skin were any indication.

"Hello Luna, what are you doing without shoes and warm clothes?" Harry greeted Luna, trying to sound more friendly than concerned as he reached her.

"Oh, hello, Harry. I would say that you look good, but I would be lying – you look a little pale," Luna said evasively as she smiled airily.

"Luna, what happened?" Harry asked firmly. He already had an idea but he wanted to make sure before doing anything rash.

"Oh, some blibbering humdinger took my shoes and some of my clothes but that's ok, I was just about to go down and have some pudding in the kitchens and wait for it all to turn up – it always does in the end," Luna gave a lopsided smile, her blue intelligent eyes staring deeply into Harry's green ones "Though I do have to admit there are quite a number of wrackspurts in the Ravenclaw dormitories tonight for some odd reason. They're the little invisible creatures that float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy."

Harry was very angry and it showed as Luna noticed his darkening expression. The raven haired teenager had been a victim of bullying by Dudley and his gang as they enjoyed their "Harry hunting." He could...would not tolerate any bullying, especially on any of his friends here at Hogwarts where he felt at home.

"Dobby!" Harry called out.

The small elf popped into existence before Harry and gave him a maniacal smile. "What bes Dobby doin for the greatez Harry Potter?"

"Dobby, can you do me a favor?" Harry asked the energetic elf with a smile. Dobby nodded emphatically and wrapped his scrawny arms around Harry's leg.

"Dobby is bein saved by great Harry Potter from olds nasty family... the bestes and kind Harry Potter can be asking anything of Dobby"

"Thank you Dobby, can you find all of Luna's clothes and shoes in Hogwarts and bring them back to Luna? Some of the Ravenclaw students have been stealing her stuff and hiding them...some of them may have stuffed her things in their trunks. Could you please get them... and feel free to rip their trunks apart to get to them if you have to, thanks Dobby."

Dobby looked both angry and sad and then with a resolute voice, the small elf replied. "Dobby will bes rescuing Harry Potter's Luna's stuff and bes returning to them to her."

The small elf clicked his fingers and he disappeared from sight, no doubt to carry out his task with extreme prejudice.

Harry jumped with a start as Luna stepped forward and gave him a gentle hug, which Harry returned warmly.

"You didn't have to do that Harry, my stuff always returns...eventually," Luna whispered, her eyes welling with tears.

"No Luna, this isn't right. No one has the right to bully you and steal your stuff – just because people see you as different doesn't mean they get to do that to you!" Harry replied indignantly. "I have half a mind to storm the Ravenclaw tower and mete out some justice right now."

Luna gave him one of her trademark smiles and her eyes lit up with happiness.

"You're a good friend, Harry," Luna responded warmly. "Well I am off to the kitchens – after all that pudding won't eat itself, now will it?"

Luna turned and headed toward the kitchens on the first floor. Before she could get far she heard Harry speak up.

"Luna, please let me know if any of your stuff go missing again, ok?"

The blond Ravenclaw searched Harry's face for something, to which Harry didn't know what but before he could contemplate it, she smiled and nodded at him. Harry could hear Luna humming softly as she strolled away towards the portrait of the pear fruit which guarded the entrance to the kitchens.

Harry gave a sad sigh and shook his head at the sheer pigheadedness and bigotry of some people in magical society. Who is to say crumpled-horned snorkack actually exists or not? After all, it hadn't been long ago that he didn't believe that dragons, hippogriffs, elves and all manner of magical creatures existed. _Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there,_ Harry pondered as he recalled his first encounter with the invisible Thestrals.

With that, the young teenager headed toward the seventh floor where he came to a stop before the moving tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. He walked back and forth three times, all the while thinking of the room he wanted, instilling his desire into his thoughts.

 _ **I want a room where I can sit and think about how to solve my problems and... to heal my bloody chest.**_

He had meant to say that he wanted a room where he could sit in peace and relax but his thoughts jumbled subconsciously at the last second.

As soon as Harry had finished the thought, a silver door and archway came into existence. Opening the door and stepping through, Harry gazed around curiously at an inviting space that appeared to be a mixture of the Gryffindor Common Room and the Hogwarts library. The hybrid room appeared to combine both the warm homey feel of Gryffindor's fireplace and lounge with the soothing smell of minted books while giving a sense of spacious expanse of the library.

"Hermione would love it here," Harry whispered, awed at the powerful magic of the room. He strolled over to the crimson lounge and plopped his tired body against the plush cushions, almost moaning involuntarily. The tension from the last couple days started to fade as the snug lounge worked wonders on his back, almost _magically_.

"I am definitely bringing Hermione here," Harry murmured, content.

All he had to do now was find a solution to his situation with the Dursley's, train hard until he was good enough to defeat Voldemort, make new friends, and live a good life. How hard could it be?

Harry had no intention of staying at the Dursley's. If he had to he would rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the summer. Not only was it extremely unproductive to remain at his muggle relatives, but the severe lack of food left Harry weak and malnourished every time he returned to Hogwarts.

As Harry contemplated his dilemma, there was a soft whoosh as several books appeared on the table beside the couch. Harry gave a start and looked at the books, each one lined up perfectly, almost filling the entire table.

Harry gazed at the library where the shelves were full to the brim with books, some dusty but modern and others ancient looking with faded book-bindings barely holding the pages together. _So the room can provide any book, I wonder..._

Harry shook his head and focused again on the books on the table, his eyes lit up as soon as he saw the titles.

 **Ancient Noble Houses – Propriety and Expectations  
Purchasing Real Estate in Wizarding World  
Modern Laws and its Uses (Latest Edition)  
Wizarding Etiquette and Decorum  
Understanding Dark, Grey and Light Magic  
Elemental Magic  
The Art of Occlumency  
The Study of Advanced Runic Magic  
The Potency of Basilisk Venom and Phoenix Tears**

Harry stared almost reverently at the books, calculating their worth. He was fairly certain some of them were extremely rare and expensive, especially _Elemental Magic_ and _Understanding Dark, Grey and Light Magic_. This was confirmed a moment later as Harry found the authors' names and gasped in sheer disbelief. Both books were written by none other than Merlin Ambrosius himself, otherwise known as Myrddin Emrys.

"Oh Merlin's saggy tits," Harry breathed.

"You don't mind if I take these books, do you?" Harry asked the Room, almost expecting a resounding 'No' in the form of the room shaking or the ceiling falling.

When nothing happened, Harry nodded in satisfaction and started packing books in a single pile with _The Potency of Basilisk Venom and Phoenix Tears_ on top. Harry frowned in thought; something was nagging at the back of his mind once again as he stared at the top book.

Then it came to him with a jolt. He had to metaphorically and visibly smack his forehead for his stupidity. It had been in front of his eyes the entire time, the obvious solution to healing his magical injury. Phoenix tears, one of the most potent healing substances, was capable of healing any injury and which also happened to neutralize the most deadly magical venom in the world.

Feeling a sense of relief, Harry sank back into the lounge, all the while feeling an invisible weight roll of his shoulders. _No sense dilly-dallying about, I'll grab these books and go tell Hermione the solution...mmm she's probably in the Gryffindor Common Room at this time of the night...no doubt fussing over homework,_ Harry thought with a smirk.

With a jubilant spring in his step, Harry reverently collected the books and made his way toward the exit where he opened the silver door and stepped through without looking back. Unknown to Harry, a shadow flickered at the opposite end of the room. It appeared vaguely to have a human shape, and two eerily glowing eyes stared at the retreating Boy Who Lived as he exited the room.

Several minutes later, Harry stumbled into Hermione near the outside of the Gryffindor Tower, also carrying a pile of books that almost reached her chin. When she saw him, Hermione gave her customary smile, and upon noticing the stack of books he was carrying, her smile morphed into a full-blown grin. It was rare for Harry to be seen with books in Hogwarts, much less reading from the volumes.

"I've corrupted you!" Hermione said in amusement.

Harry blinked before giving a wheezing laugh that caused him to wince as he felt sharp pain flare up in his chest.

"Trust me Hermione, I was a bibliophile long before I came to Hogwarts...I just sort of hid that side of me, you know," Harry sighed wistfully.

"But why, I don't understand...we could have been library buddies all these years." Hermione gave him a half-hearted glare.

"That's a tale for another time, but all I'll say right now is that my magic-hating cousin Dudley and our ginger friend ' **all-fun, no-work'** Ronald sort of discouraged me from perusing books," Harry said, his expression darkening.

Hermione wanted to know more but agreed that the conversation was a topic that was not appropriate outside the dormitories and in a random corridor, so she changed the subject.

"Harry I wasn't able to get anything from the books but it got me thinking, there has to be some magical creatures that could heal you, and I thought..."

"...Fawkes, I know Hermione, it just occurred to me," Harry replied with a grin.

"Wow, I guess we are two for two on brainwaves," Hermione said, surprised and grinningback.

"Let's go up to Professor Dumbledore's office and get Fawkes to heal you!"

"Hold up, Hermione I am really tired and I don't much fancy dealing with Dumbledore right now...we sort of got into a quarrel, and it's not like I'm going to die tonight. I took a blood replenishing potion just before, so I'm good. We'll go to Fawkes tomorrow, ok?" Harry said wearily.

Hermione looked hard at Harry and opened her mouth to argue, but then decided not to.

"Fine, but we see Fawkes first thing in the morning, Harry James Potter," Hermione relented.

"Yes dear," Harry said in a faux mocking tone.

"Prat!" Hermione lightly swiped Harry's arm in false indignation but the effect was ruined as she grinned at Harry.

After wishing each other goodnight, the duo headed to their separate dormitories. It took Harry a while to get to sleep that night as he stored the rare books safely away. He couldn't stop thinking about the revelations of the prophecy, his godfather dying, his unique ability to manipulate time, and his bleak future that weighed heavily on his mind.

* * *

Pacing back and forth across his office, Dumbledore muttered inconsequently while rubbing his sore throat. The most powerful and knowledgeable wizard was, for lack of better word, stumped. Not long ago his young charge, Harry, had been shouting at him, almost to the point of unleashing expletives, when he suddenly disappeared into thin air.

That wasn't the most bizarre thing. For some strange reason, he found his mouth full of sherbet lemons just as Harry had seemingly Disapparated...well at least it looked like he did. He wasn't certain about the nature of Harry's disappearing act because he had been too busy choking on the lemon sweets which had nearly caused his death. He could only imagine Great Britain's response to the most powerful wizard of his generation suddenly dying from ingesting too many sweets. _Merlin! The humiliation..._

Shaking his head, Dumbledore pondered the strange events which confounded his logical, well-ordered mind, giving him a headache for his troubles. He was fairly certain Harry had Disapparated out of his office, but the question was how. Harry hadn't learnt how to Disapparate, nor had he gotten his license, seeing as he was still underage. Even if he had, that raised the question of how he had been able to Apparate inside of Hogwarts's powerful anti-apparition wards.

The wall clock chimed, interrupting Dumbledore's internal ramblings, and he looked up sharply, noticing with surprise that it was rather late in the evening. He grumbled and decided to turn in for the night, though not before making a mental note to visit Madam Pomfrey for a throat-soothing potion in the morning.

 **End Chapter.**

* * *

Author's Note:

 **Who or what was that in the RoR as Harry exits the room? What do you guys think? *Sinister Cackle***

 **The statue scene was inspired by The Mask of Zorro where the masked vigilante started slashing his sword that cut off Eléna clothes from the waist up. I found this particularly amusing because Eléna expression at this moment is one of sheer shock. I can just imagine the same shock on the face of the statue, while picturing Harry tilting his head to the side with a smirk (without the mask) waving his wand in a similar manner to Zorro LMAO.**

 **I felt that in Canon, Harry didn't ask many questions that he should have done by rights because he still had too much respect and awe for Dumbledore other than to shout and go on a tantrum. Realistically, Canon Harry is too timid and naïve and still looks up to Dumbledore so much that his character development stagnates and he doesn't gain any independence. So I had Harry asked those questions in this story, things like why had the Order taken so long to rescue the students. Or why Dumbledore forced Harry to be mind-raped by an unpleasant vindictive Snape who is so blind by his hatred for James Potter that he can't even see in Harry's mind, memories of a young Harry being abused emotionally and physically (malnutrition etc) but not sexually. These questions and more are what I felt that Jo should have placed in the story, as it necessitates Harry's character development into a young man who can have the life that he should have had and become independent.**

 **I am aware that at this point after the ministry attack; Fawkes had a fire burning day and became a chick once more in Rowling's Book. For the purpose of this story I changed it so that Fawkes was still an adult…I needed the phoenix to fill in a plot hole which becomes obvious in the next few chapters. Stay tuned for more and thanks for reading, you awesome folks!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Discoveries

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, _"Hey, I know what you're thinking...no it's not what it looks like. Harry aint a slave and I'm not the master so Human Rights activists, take a chill pill..so onwards with the story."_

Review Comments:

David305 – Thank you for the feedback, I have corrected the mistakes in Chapter 2. I hope my story errors don't bother you too much until I find a Beta reader.

Philosophize – Yeah so many applications and uses for manipulating time especially during combat. I think you will find this a fun story. I have already decided what pairing it's going to be but you'll have to wait and find out but I think you will like it.

Lokarryn- Thank you, I read so many HP stories where he gains 'interesting' powers but never saw one where Harry has the power to manipulate time without relying on time-turners or 'runic time chambers'. It should be interesting to read :)

god of all- Thank you, I hope you enjoy the story.

Vegasman59- Haha, yeah I wanted a little bit of pranking on Dumbles at the start before the story gets heavy into the bashing :)

Redbayly- Thank you for the feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed the dialogue! Hopefully, as I continue to write, the grammar will improve and hopefully I will have a beta reader soon.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I would like to thank Philosophize and Angy2015 for their valuable time editing this story. Their corrections make it a more enjoyable read for everyone.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Harry woke up the next morning with an abnormally large abundance of energy. Even though he'd lost blood during the night, he felt strong and energetic. He was puzzled at this, and try as he might, he could not understand why he was brimming with energy. Shelving the thought for the moment, Harry used his wand to summon his glasses and discovered within seconds just how bad of an idea that was. The old, faded glasses flew at him like a bullet before hitting him in the forehead, which elicited a grunt of pain.

Now perplexed and worried, Harry picked up the glasses and put them on before rubbing his forehead. Harry was certain he didn't use any more power in the Summoning charm than he normally did. So why was the Summoning charm was overpowered? He came to the conclusion it probably had something to do with the severe magical exhaustion yesterday after manipulating time. _Worth researching later_ , Harry reasoned as he got up grabbing some clothes on his way towards the showers.

After a particularly satisfying shower, scrubbing caked blood off his skin, Harry sauntered towards his bed while avoiding the mass of clothes and shoes lying around the floor. As quietly as possible, he took a blood-replenishing potion from the bedside drawer and downed it quickly, trying to ignore the pungent aftertaste. He would have to take two vials of the nauseating potion every day and wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to the taste. After disposing of the empty vial, Harry glanced at Ron who was snoring loudly while the other boys including Neville tossed and turned in their sleep. Deciding against waking them, he wandered down the flight of stairs to the Common room. There he found Hermione already dressed and waiting for him. Her hair was still wet from her morning shower ritual, and as usual she was engrossed in a book while nibbling her bottom lip in thought.

"Morning, Mia," Harry greeted her, and then almost instantly backpedaled as he realized what he had said. "I er...I mean Hermione".

"Morning ,Harry. It's ok if you want to call me that – I mean it's kind of nice actually," Hermione replied, her cheeks flushed pink as she looked up at him. "But only in private, Ok?"

"Well then...Mia shall we break our fast this fine morning?" Harry responded energetically, with a lopsided grin.

"Um sure," she replied with amusement. Hermione knew Harry wasn't a morning person, so why was he so chipper?

They both bounded through the portrait entrance to the Gryffindor Tower and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. "You're rather energetic this morning," Hermione remarked lightly.

"Yeah, I don't know why, but it feels great when I should be feeling weak from all the blood loss," Harry replied.

They entered the Great Hall which was still rather empty at this time of the morning. Harry headed toward the Gryffindor table with Hermione trailing behind. Grabbing a bowl of porridge and pumpkin juice, Harry sat down with Hermione sitting next to him.

"So Harry, you haven't forgotten about Fawkes have you?" Hermione asked Harry with suspicion.

"Merlin, no, but I'm not heading up to the Headmaster's office." Shaking his head, he dug into his meal. "I've a better idea where we can meet Fawkes and besides I wanted to show you something I think you'll like".

"Ok – if you say so," Hermione replied uncertainly.

The conversation quickly turned to plans for the holidays. Hermione spoke at length as she planned to spend time with her parents abroad before sixth year started. After swearing her to secrecy, Harry told her he would most likely be staying at the Leaky Cauldron during the holidays. Hermione wasn't too enthused about that, however she remained silent. Even after five years, she still had some regard for authority figures and couldn't imagine going against Dumbledore. The conversation dwindled into silence as they finished their breakfast, and as they stood Harry led her out of the Great Hall.

"Come on Mia, we are going to seventh floor," Harry said eagerly. He strode quickly in the direction of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy with Hermione trailing beside him. Once again, he strode back and forth three times while thinking of the room he had visited yesterday.

Hermione gasped as she saw the silver archway appear before them. They entered through the archway door, and Hermione's eyes widened, mouth agape as she gazed around the room.

Harry grinned at his friend's expression and plopped himself on the Gryffindor recliner while Hermione continued to stand there with a dumbfounded expression on her face.

"So, what do you think?" Harry asked with a smirk.

Instead of answering, she numbly walked to one of the shelves and gingerly pulled out a book. Hermione was certain she had died and gone to heaven, the library before her was the largest she had seen by far. Not even the Library of Congress she had visited during her holiday trip with her parents was this big or beautiful, and it certainly wasn't as elegant.

"You know Mia, you're going to catch flies like that," Harry chuckled, seeing the stars in his friend's eyes.

Hermione snapped her mouth shut and blushed. She gave a light-hearted glare at Harry and ambled toward the Gryffindor lounge, carrying the book she'd picked up moments ago.

"Harry, you haven't been holding out on me have you?" Hermione asked accusingly.

"Merlin no, Mia, I only discovered this myself last night...I didn't even know the room could do this," Harry replied.

"Well this library is certainly bigger than the Hogwarts library...hmm I wonder if any book you desire can appear?" Hermione pondered as she stared at the book in her hands.

"I think so," Harry responded, thinking of the books he collected last night with Merlin's name imprinted on them.

"If you mentally ask for any book you want, I think the room provides it," Harry scratched his head in wonder, then he grinned with amusement. "You know...if enough other people discover that the room can do this, then every bookstore in England - including Flourish and Blotts - would be bankrupt and out of business."

"Right...soo I think we should keep it to ourselves, Harry," Hermione replied with alarm.

"Yeah, you'll get no argument from me – I was actually thinking of using this room to research magic and train to prepare for Voldemort...I can't train with everyone flocking to the room like bees to honey - so we should definitely keep it under wraps." Harry replied. He frowned in thought, planning ways he could learn new spells and powerful magic using this library. He briefly wondered if he could use the room to make dummies that fired spells at him for training.

Harry heard a gasp from Hermione and he looked up at her to find her staring past his shoulder. He turned around to discover a black humanoid-shaped dummy had appeared behind him twirling a wand in its hand.

With a start, they heard a monotone voice that sounded oddly mechanical say, " **Level One initiated, awaiting command."**

"No freakin way!" Harry said in astonishment.

"Harry is that what I think it is?" Hermione asked, pointing to the dummy.

"I think so" He replied. "Well, that settles it...I'm definitely training here"

Hermione was about to ask what Harry meant by preparing for Voldemort, but Harry spoke up, his voice brimming with excitement.

"Oh that reminds me, Fawkes!"

There was a flash of crimson fire and Fawkes appeared on the table. The phoenix trilled in greeting as he turned his gaze to Harry.

"Hey Fawkes, um I was wondering if you could help heal my chest with your tears?" Harry asked nervously.

Harry was about to explain to the Phoenix why he need the magical tears, when the bird flew to the armrest of the lounge and stared pointedly at Harry. It only took Harry a few seconds to get the message that Fawkes wanted him to lie down across the couch. Fawkes flew towards Harry and landed lightly on top of Harry's stomach and started trilling a song of hope and love. Within seconds, tears started flowing from the phoenix and landed on the magical wound. There was a sizzling sound, and Harry felt no more pain as the cross-knitted wound closed itself, leaving unblemished skin.

"Oh thank Merl—," Hermione said a she visibly sagged, the relief in her voice obvious. However, before she finish, she gasped sharply and her face turned tearful as she stared at his chest.

"Oh bugger," Harry whispered. The chest wounds slowly re-opened, despite the tears which should have healed anything.

The room was silent for a full minute, as Harry and Hermione contemplated what to do next, only to discover their options were rather limited. If phoenix tears could not heal his magical wound, then what could?

Fawkes stared at the magical injury with a sharp intensity, cocking his head from side to side as he tried to figure out what had gone wrong. He then looked at Harry, then back at his chest.

"It's ok Fawkes, you did your best and I thank you for that friend," Harry said, stroking Fawkes's head in thanks.

"I wonder why phoenix tears didn't work?" Hermione wondered aloud, frowning deeply.

Fawkes gave a mournful trill and fire flashed away, leaving Harry and Hermione looking helplessly at each other.

 **"Repeat, Level One initiated, awaiting command."**

Both Harry and Hermione jumped at the soulless voice in the air. The voice was exacerbated by the quietness of the room, sounding louder than usual. Harry looked back at the dummy that was still twirling its wand and shuddered at the thought of what it was capable of and the possibility that it could cast dark spells.

"Right – um, I am not doing training right now so, um, you can go," Harry stuttered to the dummy.

The dark-attired dummy disappeared without a sound, leaving Harry and Hermione to stare at the spot it previously stood.

"Do you have any more surprises in store Harry?" Hermione asked half sarcastically and amused.

"Um, nope, I'm flat out today Mia...hopefully," Harry said with a grin.

Hermione shook her head in exasperation. "Only you Harry, only you...so what was that about preparing for Voldemort?"

Harry gave a sigh and recounted the events when he was with Dumbledore the night before, leaving out his strange ability to control time. He explained the interrogation he gave the Headmaster, to which Hermione looked borderline reproachful, much to his amusement. He finished with the prophecy that explained the fated showdown between Voldemort and himself.

As Harry finished, Hermione went pale and her countenance was etched with worry. Harry looked at her and felt his relationship with Hermione being reinforced by her caring and compassionate concern for him. It was rather endearing and Harry couldn't help smiling.

"Well what are we going to do?" Hermione asked.

"We?"

"You certainly weren't thinking of doing this alone, were you, Harry?" Hermione inquired, narrowing her eyes at him.

Harry gave a sigh and rubbed his scar with frustration. "I suppose you're right Mia, we can train and prepare for Voldemort and his followers but we can't do anything yet so long as I have this damn chest injury – I am still bleeding out and if I can't heal the damn thing I will die in several days so..."

"So we're back to square one...at least there might be a solution in this library," Hermione said as she frowned in thought.

"Yeah at least there's a silver lining in everything," Harry agreed.

"Um..."

"Hmmm, what is it Mia?"

Hermione faltered, and grimaced before she spoke in a small voice. "Well – it's a rather large library and there must be hundreds of thousands of books in here...so it could take weeks to find something."

"Damn it, that lasted like five seconds, Mia...not even a full minute!" Harry shook his head in exasperation.

"Maybe we should ask for more people to help, and—"

" **Hell,** **no,** Mia, if word gets out about the capabilities of the room, even Voldemort will drop everything and storm Hogwarts to get at this ... _repository_. This place is a gold mine Mia. I bet there is long-lost forgotten magic in some of these books about branches of magic that Voldemort hasn't even heard of much less knows how to use. We start asking people for help, no matter how trustworthy, and word will get out. This is how the Room of requirement got found out in the first place by the Inquisitorial Squad, thanks to Marietta Edgecombe." Harry said heatedly.

"What if we use contracts or unbreakable oaths?" Hermione asked.

"No, that isn't a good idea. We tried that already, and it didn't work. Look, everyone thought the Room gave you what you wanted in the form of a room, but I doubt anyone ever thought of using the room as a way to obtain valuable books. It seems to either copy every book in the world, or it somehow teleports them here into the room. Either way, this is too damn valuable...Mia I found books written by Merlin himself last night. Can you imagine what Voldemort could do if he got his hands on books like that?"

"Oh, that could be bad," Hermione agreed sharply. "But what will we do?"

"Don't worry I have a feeling we won't need extra hands anyway." Harry gave a sigh, tracing his scar with his finger. Truthfully, he wasn't certain whether it was a feeling or perhaps an intuition at this point, but he was fairly certain that if he asked the room for the right books, it would comply to his wishes...at least he hoped. He couldn't help wondering what and if the Room of Requirement had any limits at all, considering everything they had seen thus far.

"Anyway, classes are starting in less than an hour. I know we've practically almost finished the year, but will you attend the remaining ones?" Harry asked, eager to change the subject.

Hermione sighed. "No, not until I've found something to help you...what about you?"

"Nah, Madam Pomfrey wanted me to take it easy, so I have medical leave until my chest is healed," Harry replied glumly.

There was a pause as they stared at each other. Harry found himself captivated once more by Hermione's warm, chestnut-brown eyes that gazed intensely back at his deep emerald ones.

"Mia, thanks for sticking by me. Even though you could have died at the Ministry, you never gave in...I...well, you're my best friend, and I wouldn't trade that for the world," Harry said with a blush.

"I – thanks but what about Ron, isn't he your best friend?" Hermione asked, beaming with happiness as her eyes watered.

"No. I've thought about it for a while and I've been too daft to notice it, but you've been my best friend since the troll incident in first year. Listen, I'm sorry about not standing up for you when Ron made fun of you – hell, he basically bullied you in first year, and I didn't even do anything...oh, god, I'm such a git."

Hermione put up her hand to stop Harry's tirade. "Harry, calm down – you know that I don't care about that, it happened so long ago and – well, I was a bossy know-it-all back then, so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't want to be friends with me at the time."

"Still, it isn't right. The least I can do for being a git back then is to explain my behavior, Mia, even if it doesn't excuse what I did." Harry sighed, mentally preparing for what he was going to say. He was initially nervous, as he had never opened up to anyone before about his childhood at the Dursleys, but being mortally wounded had given him a new perspective on life. _Oh well, Gryffindors charge forward._

"Mia, you already know that those stupid 'Boy Who Lived' books about me being a hero as a kid are a pile of dung...but what you don't know is that I didn't have a childhood, not really. Ever since I could remember, I lived in a cupboard under the stairs. It was full of spiders and dust, and all I had sleep on was= a lumpy mattress and a single sheet cover."

Hermione gasped, looking utterly horrified.

"I remember during the winters, it was so cold that I got sick for long periods and even caught a case of pneumonia once which was pretty bad. Starting when I was five, my Aunt forced me to do all the cooking for her family, and if I made a mistake, I would get beltings before being flung in my cupboard where I'd remain without food for days." Harry paused, staring down at his hands because he was afraid to look at Hermione. He could hear Hermione's distraught sniffling beside him, and he felt her arms wrapped around him, hugging him tightly.

After a deep breath to steady himself, he continued.

"While my cousin Dudley received two or three servings of food, I had to live on scraps that still left me hungry every day. Dudley had two rooms, while I had a cupboard that was too small after I reached the age of eight. My clothes are hand-me-down rags from Dudley that are three sizes too big and these glasses," Harry pointed at his circular rimmed glasses, "I have been wearing ever since I was four".

With a despondent sigh, Harry hugged Hermione in return to reassure her. There was a wet spot on his shirt where Hermione's forehead rested, and he realized she was crying.

"Every year I was forced to do more and more chores, from cooking to cleaning the entire house to weeding the gardens. At this point I was treated a lot like a house elf, and my cousin and his friends started hunting me down...they called it 'Harry hunting,' and if I got caught they would punch and kick me until I was too sore to move. I resorted to staying at the library because Dudley hated it there, and I found peace and quiet there amongst all the books. It was there I discovered I enjoyed reading."

Harry looked up to see Hermione openly weeping in grief and anger. He could see the anger in her eyes, and she looked like she wanted to hex the Dursleys. She latched on to Harry with a strong grip, as if afraid to let go. He gave her a grateful smile and clasped her hand in his. She squeezed his hand resolutely in return.

"If I got better grades than Dudley, I would get punished with belt lashings and no food for days. I can still remember the first day when I brought home my grades, which had top marks. It was so painful. From that point on, I made sure to get slightly worse grades than Dudley, and since he usually failed his classes, everyone concluded that I was an abysmal student at school. Every time I tried to make a friend, Dudley would scare them away, and for ten long years I didn't have any friends. When I finally came to Hogwarts, I met Ron, and for the first time I was so excited that I didn't care about his flaws or his faults...I had my first real friend," Harry said with a wistful smile.

"Oh Harry, what those monsters did was horrible. By rights, they should be in jail...the neighbors should have noticed the child abuse..." Hermione whispered angrily. "Is that why you don't try hard to excel at Hogwarts?"

Harry nodded solemnly, then tilted his head in thought. "Yeah. I always wondered why no one noticed my condition, especially the neighbors, but I have a nagging suspicion that the blood wards placed on the Dursleys' home stopped anyone from looking too closely." Harry sighed sadly.

"Harry, who placed you there?" Hermione asked. "I know that in the muggle world, child services do background checks before placing kids in new homes...I am reasonably certain that that the magical world is the same - Harry they would have discovered that the Dursleys are not fit to raise children – especially magical children!"

Hermione had always suspected that there was something wrong with Harry's home life. Every time as she saw Harry wearing rags on the Hogwarts Express, every time she saw how pale and thin he looked, every time she saw his normally bright, emerald eyes looking dull and lifeless at the start of a new school term, she suspected foul play at the Dursleys. She had no idea, though, just how bad it had truly been for her friend, and she silently vowed to make the Dursleys pay at some point.

Harry considered the question and frowned. The more he thought about it, the less he liked it. The whole situation stank to high heaven of dodgy happenstance that dictated one tragedy after another.

"Mmm... you're right, and I'm pretty certain that my parents would never have wanted me to go to the Dursleys...if anything they would have clearly stipulated in their wills—" Harry gasped and inwardly kicked himself. "Oh, tits, I haven't even checked if my parents left a will...all these years." He slapped his forehead in frustration, cursing his docile stupidity.

"Well, to answer your question, it was Dumbledore who kidnapped and placed me there, and he keeps forcing me to go back there every year, claiming that the 'blood wards' need charging," Harry spat out.

"But... but..."

It was at that moment that the last vestiges of Hermione's faith in authority figures shattered into a million pieces. She could not believe that anyone, let alone the Leader of the Light, could so utterly fail Harry and strip him of his childhood. Hermione almost growled in sheer disgust.

"I'll have to go to Gringotts this summer and check on that," Harry mumbled. "Anyway, when I met Ron, I couldn't have been happier to finally have a friend. I was so afraid to lose my first friend that I didn't correct him or stand up for anyone that he might have been a git to...which included you. I suppose that's why I didn't tell him off for calling you names back in first year."

"It's ok, Harry, I understand and I would have done the same in your place," she replied. Hermione gave him a reassuring smile.

"I still haven't forgiven him for nearly getting you killed by the troll, Mia, and I don't know if I could ever, you know?" Harry frowned in concentration, trying to recall the incident. "I am fairly certain, if my memory isn't faulty, he didn't even apologize to you that day!"

Hermione looked at Harry with a jolt. She tried to dispute him, but found that she couldn't. It didn't even occur to her that Ron hadn't apologized back then. Shaking her head, she came to the conclusion that she had been too excited to make two new friends to notice a lack of an apology.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to show you my childhood," Hermione said, drawing a deep breath.

"Mia, you don't have to."

"No, it's only fair since you confided your life before Hogwarts to me," she said with a sigh.

Drawing a deep breath, she began. "So I should start at the beginning I suppose. My story starts when I discovered my love of books at the age of four. At this time, my parents thought I was a normal child who had inherited my mum's brains and my dad's hair. One day, I couldn't reach a book I wanted to read and in a moment of frustration I had my first bout of accidental magic, summoning the book to me. My parents completely freaked out until someone came around and explained that I was a witch. They were so proud of me, and I felt safe knowing that they wouldn't think me any different for being a witch.

"When I went to muggle school, I started assimilating books from the library with an unending thirst for knowledge, eager to please my parents. I didn't want them to reject me...being a witch and the only way I knew how was to get top grades in school. Due to my diligence with books, my grades were the highest of my year, which attracted a lot of attention. A lot of my year group thought I was a know-it-all bookworm and a teacher's pet, so they teased and bullied me about it. After a while they teased me for having bushy hair and buckteeth, and generally called me ugly, which hurt me even more than being called a bookworm." Hermione explained with a shaky breath.

It was Harry's turn to hug Hermione's trembling frame, giving soothing words of comfort for his female friend. He felt Hermione's squeeze in the hug and silently vowed to never let anyone hurt Hermione again.

"Every year it got worse, almost to the point that I relied on teachers to shield me from the worst of it. I suppose that's what sparked my faith in authority figures and in books. At some point, I decided to remain in the library during my free time reading books to avoid year groups with an aptitude for bullying. I didn't have any friends, so I stayed at home in my spare time, spending time with my parents instead.

"When I finally got my acceptance letter from Hogwarts, I was so excited about the possibility of making friends and being accepted among peers who could understand me. At least that was what I hoped for upon entering the wizarding world...to be understood by like-minded people. But..." Hermione gave a weak laugh, before continuing.

"You must think me silly for having dreams. I was a little girl about to enter a new world, a magical society full of wizards, dragons, unicorns and fairies...it sounded like a dream come true for a fairy tale princess who could gain friends in a magical way.

But the first thing I encountered upon entering this world was Ronald Bilius Weasley calling me an "ugly know-it-all" bookworm with buckteeth. Nothing but a barmy girl he says. As Ron tormented me, my world shattered around me and I couldn't take it anymore...I... I wanted to go home and leave the wizarding world forever. I suppose that's when I found my way into the bathroom where I encountered the troll." Hermione said bitterly.

Harry was surprised to learn that Hermione had wanted to leave the wizarding world and felt a little angry that Ron had almost pushed the brightest, smartest witch to the point of leaving the magical society forever.

Hermione gave a bitter laugh; her chestnut brown eyes were full of sadness.

"It's funny, you'd think it would have been Draco Malfoy who I would have encountered first and who would have bullied me, but no...it was Ron. Malfoy didn't even know I existed until after you and I became friends."

"Mia, once again, I am so sorry for not being a good friend to you," Harry's voice cracked.

"It's fine, and we didn't even know each other back then. Why should you estrange your new friendship with Ron for someone you didn't know? I don't blame you, I blame Ron," Hermione replied firmly.

"Harry, the truth is, I barely tolerate Ron because he is your friend. I may help you with your homework when you need it, but Ron exploits my help by copying all my homework, which constantly eats up all my remaining free time. I can't stand it when he spits food everywhere at the Gryffindor table and chews with his mouth full...can you imagine what it's like for a daughter of two dentists to see someone eating that way? My parents would have an aneurysm seeing that!

"He constantly fights with me every day, even after I help him with his homework, and every time I have to wonder why I even bother... but then I think about what would happen if I refuse to help him. I've been afraid of losing your friendship if I didn't help Ron - even if he doesn't appreciate my help. Honestly, if he weren't plagiarizing my work, he would have been held back a grade or two at Hogwarts by now, which I think he deserves."

Hermione gave a disgusted snort.

"With his table manners, rude behavior and poor hygiene, and his failing grades, just about the entire female population has categorized him in the 'not-boyfriend material' zone," Hermione said, accentuating her point with quotation marks in the air.

Harry had heard enough. He was honestly disgusted with himself for not seeing this side of Ron before, someone who was essentially the red-haired version of Draco Malfoy.

"All that ends here...if Ron can't do his own homework, then I don't even want to be his friend. It's not fair to you when you're doing twice the work to keep that git from failing every year. Oh, Merlin, I can't even imagine what the workload would have been like in third year when you were using the time-turner," Harry said heatedly, looking horrified.

"I admit it did nearly kill me, and it didn't help that Ron tried exploiting my help that year, but in hindsight I probably should have dropped some subjects like Muggle Studies, which is like two hundred years out of date anyway," Hermione said.

"Anyway, when I saw the troll in the bathroom, about to swing that giant club at me, my life flashed before my eyes. I was pretty sure I was going to die, but then something magical did happen. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived did the unthinkable: he jumped on the back of a troll to save me. By the way, Harry, you do realize that I owe you a life debt since you saved me?"

"Really? But I didn't save you. I ended up almost dying myself, and probably would have if it hadn't been for Ron casting _Wingardium Leviosa_ and knocking the troll out...so really - shouldn't you owe Ron a life debt?" Harry asked curiously.

Hermione made a face and scowled as she shook her head venomously. "No. First of all, life debts require your own life to be in danger while saving someone else, and you can't deliberately set up someone to be in danger in the first place to collect a life debt. When you jumped on the back of that troll, you were in real danger, and in that moment you stopped the troll from killing me with its club t. Since Ron was the reason I went to the bathroom to cry all day in the first place, he indirectly set me up to be in danger, which would nullify any life debt I would owe him," Hermione replied with a snort.

"Huh. Well these shenanigans just keeps getting better and better," He said derisively. "Did you know I had to literally drag Ron all the way to the bathroom? He knew you were in the bathroom and in danger when I told him after the announcement in the Great Hall, but he didn't give a toss. He just wanted to go back to the dorms," Harry said darkly.

"Really? No I wasn't aware of that but I wouldn't be surprised at this point," Hermione replied sadly. "Well, there's something I haven't told you. When the troll nabbed you, and you were seconds away from being clubbed, Ron was backing out of the bathroom. He was about to run away when I shouted at him to cast _Wingardium Leviosa_...seeing as he was the only one who still had his wand on hand, even if he was a coward."

Harry never felt a stronger urge before now to throttle Ron for all the grief he had caused over the years, especially when Ron had the gall to abandoned him twice. This would mark the third time the ginger charlatan had abandoned him if he counted the troll incident. Harry cursed his ignorance and stupidity for not seeing what had been obviously in front of him.

"Well, merlin's tits, I didn't think I could loathe the guy as strongly as I do now," Harry exclaimed loudly.

"You and me both. Anyway, you were my knight in shining armor that day when you saved me and it's because of you that I stayed in the wizarding world, and that's pretty much my story." Hermione smiled brightly at Harry.

"Mia – I...I just want to thank you for telling me your personal life and trusting me. You've been my rock all these years, even when everyone else has treated me like shite. I've been either paraded around as a glorified hero one minute or portrayed as a lying, cheating dark lord the next. Through it all, you've stayed by my side, and without you I don't think I could have remained sane, you know?"

Hermione responded by crushing Harry in a strong embrace. Harry's heart fluttered at the contact, and he returned the embrace, drinking in the warmth of her body. They separated after moment, though not before Harry noticed Hermione wiping a single tear with the back of her sleeve.

She gave a heart-stopping smile that lit the room and stared at Harry longingly, nibbling at her bottom lip. Harry couldn't help but stare into her beautiful eyes, and saw in them a deep warm brown that sparkled with intelligence. He noticed that her pale complexion was flawless. Accentuating her unblemished skin was the chestnut bushy hair that flowed down her shoulders in intricate curls. He couldn't help but observe how her hair had transformed over the years from a wild untamable mess into rich brown curls that trailed down her shapely bosom. In that moment, all thought process stopped as Harry gazed at perfection reincarnated, and he couldn't stop himself from blushing.

Hermione noticed Harry looking at her with an intensity that felt as though he was staring right into her soul. She blushed as well and looked down at the floor nervously. She felt confused by Harry's intense gaze, unable to decipher its meaning, but she knew that Harry cared about her deeply as a friend. She wished Harry could see her as something more than just a friend, but she resigned herself to just being there for him as a loyal friend. In that moment, she knew she would follow Harry to the ends of the world and even to Hell if she had to. If she could only find a way to help Harry with his cursed chest before...no it was unthinkable. She would not stop until she found an answer and save Harry.

Before she could look back at Harry, there was a muted flash in front of them, above the table.

The disturbance was followed by a dull thud of an object impacting the surface of the table that made the teenagers jump apart. Harry and Hermione turned beetroot red and exchanged embarrassed smiles.

"Um what was that noise?" Harry asked in a bare whisper.

"Err I'm not sure, but it sounded like something fell," Hermione replied, glancing at the table.

Hermione gasped as she noticed the new addition on the table. An old faded book looking worse for wear had appeared before them, courtesy of the Room of Requirement. Hermione looked at Harry and gave a shrug before turning back to the book and reading the title.

 _The Legends of Firebirds_

Hermione gingerly opened the book and started flickering through the yellowed pages with tender care. She read from a passage and gave a startled gasp. "Harry this is it! This is our solution to your chest injury," Hermione shouted excitedly. She bounced against Harry with a rib-crushing hug in her enthusiasm.

"Oww...hey Hermione as much as I love your hugs ...*gasp*...you're sort of killing me, ah my chest," Harry said with a grimace.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Harry, I didn't mean to hurt you!" Hermione extracted herself quickly as though she had been burnt by a hot rod.

"It's fine, so what was all that about?"

"Oh, it's amazing...Harry this book depicts these birds - um 'Firebirds' - who can heal any injury. It goes on to explain that their healing properties are as potent as Alpha Phoenixes, perhaps even more so," Hermione replied. She flickered through the book, slowing down every now and then to read a passage.

 _Mmmm, so my suspicions early were confirmed. We didn't need extra hands after all. This room is very powerful, too powerful if you can simply ask anything you want or what you desire._ Harry considered silently. _As long as the room correctly interpreted my thoughts, it could provide me with any help I desperately need in the form of information._

"Hey, Hermione, what were you thinking moments ago?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh, um, well – you know, I was thinking that I didn't want anything to happen to you, and I just wanted for there to be a way to heal your chest," she replied shyly.

Harry smiled warmly at his friend, deeply touched by her concern for him. His emotions churned as he wondered why he was feeling this way toward Hermione. He saw how stunning and attractive she looked and wished he had asked her to the Yule Ball last year. Why had he been so blinded last year? He was certain he wasn't gay as he was attracted to the fairer sex, otherwise he wouldn't have pined after Cho Chang. Was it because of Ron and his incessant need to 'claim' Hermione? No, Hermione wasn't property that could be claimed, and if the charlatan saw her that way then he didn't deserve her.

"Mmm... figures, the Room can give us anything if we ask it to," Harry said with wonder. "I guess we look up how to find this Firebird, heal my chest and celebrate with a glass of butterbeer. How hard can that be?"

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" Hermione shouted, placing her hands on her hips.

"What did I do?" Harry whispered, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. It was never a good sign when any female hollered his full name.

"You just had to say it didn't you...you... you jinxed it." Hermione huffed.

"Mia, don't tell me you believe in those superstitions?" Harry grinned with amusement.

"It always happens, every time!" Hermione placed a finger on Harry's lips, preventing him from retorting. "Every time...now it's most likely going to be impossible for us to find a Firebird." She gave Harry a glare.

Harry gave a bemused shrug and interjected before she could rant further.

"Whatever...well Mia, I'm going to head up to Madam Pomfrey for a checkup...will you be ok?" Harry asked, suddenly feeling drained and lethargic. The fatigue was unsettling, especially considering he had been feeling full of energy not long ago.

"Yeah, Harry, I'll be fine and I'm going to keep checking this book and see if we can discover where we can find these firebirds"

Harry nodded and stood up, wincing in pain at the sudden movement. He figured he would visit Pomfrey then go and take a nap for the afternoon. Hopefully, a little slumber would wash away the fatigue; however he had a bad feeling about this.

 _What am I going to do with you Harry?_ Hermione sighed inwardly, watching at Harry's retreating figure. She decided to head to the Great Hall for lunch and study the book in her hands, which she suspected would take time. Grabbing the book, she exited the room without turning back.

Unseen by either of them, a shadowy figure stared from the far side of the library, eyes shining with an inhuman luminescence. Both teenagers had been too distracted to notice the additional occupant of the room as they exited.

* * *

 **End Chapter.**

 **Fan-made Trope:**

"Let's go see a therapist" - Harry

"WHAT! Where is the rapist" - Luna

"No…not the rapist, it's **the** rapist" - Harry

"In hind-sight, they probably invented that word because they rape your mind" – Luna

"Um ok…how about ice-cream instead?" – Harry

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **Whew that was a challenging chapter :)**

 **Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to comment or give me constructive criticism…this will help me improve my story and learn a lot in the process. Don't be shy folks!**

 **And on that bombshell, it is time for another chapter….stay tuned!**


	4. Chapter 4 - Black Flute

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, _"Hey, I know what you're thinking...no it's not what it looks like. Harry aint a slave and I'm not the master...atleast I don't think I am."_

 _Review Comments:_

 _Deathmvp –_ Thank you, I am enjoying writing this story so far. Luna will definitely have a major role but you will have to read ahead to find out later :)

 _Therio –_ Cheers, there will be romance but it will be a measured exposition, with Harry mostly discovering his abilities and skills at the forefront of this story.

 _Gracefulzola –_ Luna will definitely play a major role in this story, and thank you for reading

 _Perceval23 –_ I agree, there are hardly any boys at Hogwarts that would treat them right … aside from maybe Neville but he isn't going to end up with Luna or Hermione in this story.

 _Anttolas –_ Thank you mate, I hope you enjoy the story. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the pairing. Stay tuned.

 _Percy Jackson7 –_ Thank you :)

 _lokarryn –_ Cheers, I didn't really want the Kentucky Fried Chicken to play a major role in this story haha….puny bird :P

 _Autumngold –_ Thank you. I was a bit nervous about how I wrote their interaction and really relieved it turned out alright.

 _Thundramon –_ I want to thank you for your constructive criticism. I didn't realize how much meta exposition I was writing until I saw your review and I learned a lot from it. I added tropes as a way of winding down from some intense narratives but I apologize if it is off-putting to you.

 **Thanks to Philosophize and Angy2015 for their time editing this story. Their corrections make it a more enjoyable read for everyone.**

* * *

Chapter 4

That afternoon, Harry had finally fled from Madam Pomfrey's grilling session, much to his insurmountable relief. True to his predictions, Madam Pomfrey had quizzed him about his tardiness and was almost certain the nurse had derived immense satisfaction from watching him grimace as he sloshed down the bitter blood-replenishing potion.

"I don't understand Madam Pomfrey, shouldn't the blood-replenishing potion compensate for the loss of blood?" Harry asked, clearly confused.

Pomfrey sighed in annoyance and replied,"Mr Potter as I have said, if you did not consume those potions you would have died from the blood loss in two days. With the potions, you have a week! The potion is replenishing blood at the same rate you are losing it. Now ideally, the blood-replenishing potion would be sufficient to replace the loss of blood for the rest of your life...but as I have already explained; the potions break down in the body due to both your body and magical core building up a resistance to said potions. Therefore, you have a week until your body builds up enough resistance to render the blood-replenishing potions ineffective."

"Ah I see," Harry said as he blinked sheepishly.

For almost an hour, the matron scanned him and jotted down some notes before reluctantly releasing him with a parting comment about attending more appointments on _time_.

Harry decided to head toward his dorm for an early shower and a change of attire before heading down to dinner. He could feel the irritation of his skin around his chest injury flaring up as he strode to the Gryffindor tower and shivered involuntarily as he felt droplets of blood staining his shirt.

For forty minutes, Harry basked in the gentle shower spray that produced copious amounts of steam, enjoying the solitude that came with the cleaning ritual. Here in the Gryffindor showers, he could think and recount the past days of revelations that upended his stance in Hogwarts with friends and enemies alike. The showers gave him a sense of seclusion, though it also acted as a double-edged sword. Harry could feel the grief and pain over his godfather's death threatening to engulf him. It had been bottled up inside him for days, and he had desperately kept his mind preoccupied to distract himself and avoid breaking down into tears.

Harry Potter didn't cry nor did he break down. It would be a sign of weakness, especially in the presence of Dudley Dursley and his gang who would always capitalize on his emotional state. For years, he had made certain to remain under a mask of indifference, which had been partially effective around bullies in muggle schools. But he'd never had a godfather before. He'd never had true family that cared about him perish in a grotesque manner before his eyes, and it was affecting him deeply.

Harry gave a strangled sob and furiously wiped his tears away. He wouldn't break down, not now when Hermione and his friends were counting on him to be strong. It also helped somewhat when he still had some lingering doubt of Sirius' death. He didn't want to to admit that the Veil of Death had claimed his godfather, not that that numbed his pain in the wake of the battle. So with great effort he tried to focus on the prophecy which Dumbledore had dumped on him so inconveniently. All it gave him was a reminder of what he had lost and a throbbing headache, so with a sigh Harry departed the showers after drying himself.

The young teenager dressed in loose fitting clothes to avoid irritating his chest injury and headed down to the Common room. There he found Neville, Ginny, Dean and Ron engaged in conversation and reluctantly approached them. Ginny was the first to notice him and smiled amiably which Harry returned weakly.

"Hiya, Harry, we've been wondering where you were?" Neville wondered, giving Harry a grin.

"Hey, Neville...hi, guys I've been seeing the inside of a hospital wing. Too much, in fact," Harry greeted them, plastering a smile on his face.

Ginny laughed as she saw the flash of grimace on Harry's face and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Let me guess, our illustrious Madam Pomfrey being her usual self?" she asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, something like that," Harry replied with a pout.

Harry discreetly glanced at everyone in the group, taking note that their injuries were healed from their fight with the Death Eaters. It did not however, abate his guilt for putting them in danger in the first place.

"Listen guys, I'm sorry for putting you in danger and getting you injured," Harry said remorsefully. "If I had listened to you guys about the vision being a trap, you wouldn't—"

"Harry, that was not your fault!" Ginny interrupted sharply. "We decided to come with you against your wishes, so as far as we're concerned...we put ourselves in a position to be in danger, not you."

The others nodded in agreement, and Ron gave Harry a silly grin. "Gin-Gin is right, we're alive and You-Know-Who has a few less Death Eaters in his ranks," Ron said with a shrug. "If I'm being honest with you mate, there was some good that came out of this. For one thing, the tentacle brains should make me smarter, meaning I don't need the book _Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches_ to get Hermione's attention anymore. I'm dead certain Hermione will go out with me now, I'm sure of it."

The stunned group stared at Ron with mouths agape and eyes boggling. Ginny gave Ron a disgusted look for his lack of tact and tried to apologize for her brother's behavior. Harry shrugged indifferently and waved it off, but he was privately seething with annoyance. Ron had struck a nerve with him, especially when he had glossed over the fact that his godfather was dead. How did any good come out of this disaster? He was even more annoyed that Ron would use some random book written by a conniving, narcissistic author who probably knew next to nothing about women - _to_ _ **court**_ Hermione.

 _Hermione wouldn't fall for that. She is far too smart and she could tell the difference between Ron's personality and the personality of the author of that stupid book. Ron likes Chudley Cannons, ridiculously orange wallpapers, hates cats, plays wizards chess, and is incredibly lazy with poor school marks...oh and loves to eat a stupid amount of food. Hermione loves studying, reading books and hates flying. They have nothing in common and...does Ron even know what Hermione's favorite food is?_ Harry mused silently.

"Ginny, are you sure Madam Pomfrey has fixed Ron?" Neville asked, dumbfounded.

 _Not to mention, Mia and Ron fight at least three times a day..._

"Yep, though if you asked me, I think she needs to get her eyes checked," she replied, glaring at Ron.

... _never seen that ginger charlatan make Mia laugh at all..._

"What? What did I say?" Ron asked dumbly.

... _always brings her to tears, almost every day after a spectacular fight...oh, don't even get me started on Lavender Brown. I wonder if he used that stupid 'charm witches' book to get Hermione jealous by dating Lavender on purpose?_

Trying to avoid an impending argument, Harry interjected quickly, "It should be dinner time, let's head down to the Entrance Hall."

They all nodded in agreement, although Ginny kept glaring at her brother as they moved.

"Say, has anyone seen Hermione?" Harry asked, looking around.

"No, I haven't seen her since lunch time in the Entrance Hall," Neville replied, shaking his head.

"Mmm"

The group exited the portrait and strolled down toward the first floor, making light conversation. Harry suspected they had deliberately avoided any topics that were a sore spot for him. They entered the great Hall and navigated to the Gryffindor table where Dean parted ways, heading toward his friend Seamus.

Harry frowned when he couldn't spot Hermione anywhere and wondered where his book-savvy friend was. He saw Parvati Patil sitting with Lavender and strolled over to her.

"Hi, Parvati, um I was wondering if you have seen Hermione?" he asked.

"Hey, Harry, no I haven't seen her since lunch," Parvati replied, shaking her head.

 _Mmm, maybe she's in the library or the Room of Requirement._ Harry thought.

"Hmm thanks, Parvati, I guess I should go." Harry gave her a parting smile.

Harry turned and headed back toward the group who were already chatting quietly. He found an empty spot next to Neville and sat himself down with a grunt.

"Any luck, Harry?" Neville asked.

"No - no one has seen Hermione since lunch," Harry replied worriedly.

"She's probably doing study or research mate...it wouldn't be the first time."

Before Harry could answer, the hall fell silent as the Headmaster stood up from the head table. Dumbledore glanced around, scanning the hall, though his twinkling eyes lingered on Harry for a moment.

"Good evening, it has been an eventful year for most of you; it certainly has been for me." Dumbledore said, chuckling in merriment.

"I imagine most of you are eager for a well-deserved respite with your families, however I do implore that you attend your remaining classes until the final day of term ends. Alas, it is time for dinner, and all I will say is blubber, tuber and flubber. Enjoy your meal."

Harry had to roll his eyes at the way Dumbledore ended his speech. Given recent events, he couldn't decide whether the Headmaster acted as an eccentric crazy old man because it was a side effect of senility or because it was designed to camouflage his sinister, cunning side.

He sighed as the food appeared out of thin air and started dishing himself mashed potatoes and meatloaf. He dug into the food with gusto, though he grew embarrassed when his stomach rumbled loudly. The others in close proximity gave him amused smiles when they heard Harry's stomach attempt to channel the rumbling of a Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200.

"Nice, Harry, very masculine." Neville said with a smirk, giving him a wink.

Harry groaned, cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"Well, it's better than your girlish snoring," Harry retorted, giving Neville a matching smirk.

"I don't snore!" Neville replied imperiously, giving Harry a mock offended look. "Seriously I don't...do I?"

"Whatever you say, Billy."

Neville gave an amused glare at him before diving back into his food. The conversation tapered off into a quiet discussion of plans for the holiday and bets on who would fill in the now-vacant post of Defense against the Dark Arts next year. Harry frowned when Neville told him he would not be able to do any spell-casting until he purchased a new wand during the holidays.

"That reminds me, Neville I'm sorry about your wand," Harry told him sincerely. "Let me pay for your new wand, it's the least I can do."

Neville waved him off, shaking his head absently. "No, Harry, it's fine. My family is considerably well off financially, and I have my own large trust fund at Gringotts which is just sitting there, collecting dust. It's about time I got my own wand anyways since I've been using my father's wand."

Harry gave him an uncertain, sidelong glance then nodded reluctantly. The raven-haired teenager returned to his meal and ate with enthusiasm until the silverware plate was sparkling clean once more. Harry noticed the others had almost finished their meals, which was strange as he was always last to finish, not the first. He shrugged and gave a contented sigh as he pushed his plate to the side. Harry froze, his features morphed into one of confusion and disbelief.

"Oh, damn, I forgot," Harry groaned, smacking his forehead. "Mmm maybe I can – nah, it's not important right now."

"What is it Harry?" Neville inquired.

"I forgot to send a letter to Gringotts asking about my parents' will," Harry replied hesitantly.

"That's strange; shouldn't you have seen their will years ago?" Neville asked, frowning slightly.

"I don't know, mate, nothing's been right since I first came to Hogwarts," Harry replied. He crinkled his nose in disdain as he remembered every life threatening situation he'd experienced over the years.

"Might as well write a letter now and send it off...say, Neville, do you have spare parchment I can borrow?" Harry asked. "Um, well, I obviously won't be able to give the parchment back..." he quickly amended, cheeks pinking with embarrassment.

"Sure, Harry," Neville responded with amusement. The young teenager dug through his pockets and pulled out folded bits of parchment which he passed to Harry.

"Cheers, mate." He smiled gratefully at Neville before pulling out a quill and began to write the letter. It took him about fifteen minutes to write what he thought was an adequate letter, not noticing that Ginny and Ron had left the Great Hall. He was uncertain how to address the goblins or how to be polite, since he was muggle-raised, which reminded him of how ignorant he was about proper etiquette. Harry frowned and resolved to learn more about goblin customs at some point.

He skimmed through the letter, looking for errors.

 _To whom it may concern,_

 _I am writing to inquire and raise some important concerns which I feel you can help enlighten me about. Firstly, I would like to ask if my parents left a will behind with Gringotts, and if so, did my parents leave anything for me aside from the trust fund?_

 _Secondly, I was informed by certain people who have a Gringotts account that they receive monthly bank statements. The important question I have to ask is, why have I not received any bank statements with my trust fund?_

 _Lastly, did my parents own any property or houses aside from the one in Godric's Hollow? If so, I wish to look into moving into one of the houses during this summer._

 _I apologize if this inconveniences you in any way; since I am muggle-raised, I am ignorant of the proper decorum when interacting in the magical world._

 _Kind Regards,_

 _Harry James Potter_

Nodding in satisfaction, Harry carefully folded the letter and waited for several minutes. His faithful owl, Hedwig, had an uncanny ability to know exactly when he needed her. Sure enough, the snowy owl soared into the Hall and glided down to Harry. Hedwig landed lightly on Harry's arm and nibbled her human _underling's_ ear with affection.

"Alright there, Hedwig?" Harry scratched her favorite spot, located on the underside of her neck. "I've missed you, girl."

Hedwig gave a soft, contented bark, showing her pleasure by crooning at the attention she received. Harry grabbed a half-eaten plate filled with lettuce and ham from the middle of the table and placed it before Hedwig.

"Here, girl, would you like some ham?"

Hedwig nodded in a humanesque way before plucking some ham from the plate with her beak. Harry continued to preen her feathers as she ate. He found it curious that the nocturnal bird could produce one long continuous purr eerily similar to cats, which Harry didn't think was possible from an owl.

"Hedwig, would you mind sending this off to Gringotts?" Harry asked

She gave a short bark before extending her leg to take the letter. Harry tied the letter to her leg before giving her another slice of ham.

"Thank you, girl, make sure you send the letter to the goblin who is in charge of accounts," Harry said, smiling with fondness at the clever owl.

Hedwig gave a bark and flapped her wings. She circled the Gryffindor table once before exiting the Hall, heading toward Gringotts.

Harry sighed and looked around the Hall, noticing that Dumbledore and Snape had left. He saw there were still a number of students and teachers milling about, eating a delicious variety of desserts which Neville was currently partaking in.

"Still hungry Neville?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah, absolutely, this pudding is to die for," Neville replied impishly. He made a face of exasperation and amusement.

"Gran can cook lovely meals, but when it comes to pudding she is almost as bad as Hagrid is with his infamous rock cakes. I'm eating all I can before I go home where I'll have to go without dessert for a while."

"Ah, fair enough," Harry replied, grinning at his friend.

Neville smirked as he finished his pudding and pushed the bowl away before turning to Harry with a forlorn expression. "Listen, Harry, before I forget, I just want to apologize for causing your predicament. I heard about what happened from Madam Pomfrey and your chest not healing. It's my fault you got hurt and if I hadn't made that blunder with the Death Eater, you would never have lost your wand or gotten hurt."

"No, Neville, it wasn't your fault, and besides, I'm to blame for us even being there at the Ministry," Harry replied firmly. "No, this is my fault. I know you and the others would argue otherwise, but it is. I just wish that a bunch of children weren't fighting in the war when adults should be." Harry sighed.

"Harry—"

"Neville... fine, mate, it's none of our fault. The blame lies solely with Voldemort and his lackeys, and I intend to stop them before they take any more of my family. Anyway I just wanted to say thank you for sticking by me at the ministry. You're a great friend." Harry gave Neville a lopsided smile.

"Anytime, Harry, I've always got your back. Did you know that the Longbottoms and the Potters were blood allies?" Neville replied, smiling warmly.

"No, I didn't, but I'm glad to call you a friend and ally, mate." Harry grinned, clasping Neville's shoulder to solidify his bond with the Longbottom heir.

There was a loud scream that broke their attention and all heads in the Great Hall turned to the entrance. Standing by the large wooden doors was Hagrid, holding a tattered bundle in his arms bridal style. The bundle looked vaguely familiar, and Harry noticed the absurdly pink robes which could only belong to one individual in all of Britain.

As Hagrid strolled down the center toward the teacher's table, Harry got a glimpse of Dolores Umbridge, who looked half crazed, muttering incoherently. Her clothes were ripped in places and she had leaves and twigs sticking out of her hair, no doubt from her foray in the Forbidden Forest with the centaurs. Harry vaguely remembered that he and Hermione had tricked the bigoted, malevolent woman into the forest where they encountered Grawp, Hagrid's brother.

"Do you think she's alright," Neville asked curiously.

"Who cares," Harry replied with a shrug. Umbridge was an evil blood-purist who was hell-bent on the eradication of all magical creatures and muggleborns. He was not about to bat an eyelid to her troubles.

Hagrid gave Harry a smile and continued on his way toward Professor McGonagall, who had noticed their presence and stood up.

"Hagrid, what is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall asked the half giant.

"Jus somethin' I found in the Forbidden Forest. The centaurs didn' like her much, and me thinks she musta encroached on their territory." Hagrid replied, shrugging his massive shoulders, which had the unintended effect of shaking Umbridge like a ragdoll.

"Evil, mudblood children...deathtrap castle...evil...must burn it down...ohhhh," Umbridge muttered incoherently.

"Good lord, Hagrid send her to the hospital wing, she is half out of her mind," said Mcgonagall, giving a snooty once over at the state of the pink witch.

Hagrid nodded and strode out of the hall toward the hospital wing, carrying the incoherent witch in his arms. Umbridge's wailing slowly faded as Hagrid disappeared from the Great Hall.

"What was that all about, Harry?" Neville inquired, staring at the exit where Hagrid left.

Harry smirked and told Neville about what happened before the group had left Hogwarts. He explained the interrogation, Umbridge's illegal use of Veritaserum, and the failed Cruciatus curse on him. Neville looked enraged as Harry related the story, though his anger faded away when Harry got to the part where the prejudiced woman encountered Grawp and the centaurs.

When Harry finished, they were both laughing hard and were struggling not to fall out of their seats. It took them several minutes to calm down, failing to hold back snickers ever now and then.

"Well, Harry, looks like that bitch won't be back for next year...the DADA curse wins again," Neville said with a smirk.

"Yeah, but I'm starting to think the curse is twofold," Harry said with a frown.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the curse seems to get rid of professors who hold the position of DADA, but it also seems to attract really awful professors. First year we had Voldemort in disguise, second year we had a fraud, third year...Lupin was a great teacher but he was Werewolf which could have endangered the student population. Fourth year we had a Death Eater in disguise, and this year we had that...toad of a woman."

"Well, when you put it like that..." Neville said anxiously.

"I have a feeling that next year we'll have another bad teacher." Harry sighed with frustration.

"Anyway, I think I'm done here, I'm going to the dorms mate," he said, giving Neville a lazy two-finger salute.

"Alright, Harry, I'll catch up later, I want to nab one more pudding before I head to bed," Neville replied, waving Harry off.

Harry strode out of the Hall, all the while casually glancing around, looking for Hermione. He didn't know what his brilliant friend was up to, but he hadn't seen her all afternoon. He could only guess that she might still be researching for how to find Firebirds, most likely in the Room of Requirement. Harry turned around, intending to head toward the ROR, when instead he fell over a small body that had stood behind him seconds ago.

"What?" Harry huffed. Lying on top of him was Dobby who looked shocked and distressed that he had caused the great Harry Potter to fall down.

"Bad Dobby...Dobby must punish himself...bad Dobby," the small elf muttered. He got off Harry's chest and headed toward the far side of the corridor wall where he made to bash his head until Harry intervened. Harry had spent enough time in Dobby's company to develop a sixth sense for whenever the poor elf was about to punish himself.

"Dobby, no, please don't punish yourself," Harry cried, grabbing Dobby's arms.

"But Dobby's trips Harry Potter and makes him fall," Dobby said tearfully.

"Dobby, it was an accident and this stuff happens every now and then. Hey, do me a favor, don't ever punish yourself again," Harry replied.

"Harry Potter not angry with Dobby?" Dobby asked.

"No, I'm not. If anything, I'm happy to see you, Dobby," Harry replied, giving the small elf a smile.

"Dobby will not punish himself then, Dobby wanted to tell the great Harry Potter that his friend Luna has her stuff. I is be returning them to her, and she is being happy, sir." Dobby sniffled, returning the smile.

"That's great Dobby, that means so much to Luna and me, thank you," Harry said as he patted the elf's shoulder.

Harry was amazed by elf magic and their ability to teleport in and out of the castle despite the powerful Anti-Apparition wards in place. The house elves also seemed to know exactly where to go, much like magical post owls, which had to be incredibly useful.

"Dobby will bez going now, goodbye Harry Potter," Dobby said, lifting his arm and preparing to snap his fingers.

Thinking quickly, it occurred to Harry that Dobby might be able to locate Firebirds with his elven magic. Only one way to find out, Harry mused.

"Dobby wait, can you do something for me?" Harry asked.

Dropping his bony arm, Dobby looked up at Harry curiously and replied, "What is Harry Potter wanting, sir?"

"I was wondering if you could find a magical creature for me. You see, my chest is bleeding, and if I can't heal it soon I will die. My only chance of surviving is if I find a Firebird that will give its pearls to heal the wounds. Can you do that?"

"Dobby can look for Firebirdy thing for Harry Potter sir, Dobby won't stop until this birdy heals Harry Potter," Dobby replied, nodding his head so rapidly that Harry was afraid his head would fall off his skinny shoulders.

"Thanks Dobby," Harry said. The elf nodded and snapped his fingers which created a spark. Seconds later and with a soft whoosh, Dobby teleported away.

Smiling faintly, Harry strolled toward the seventh floor and stopped before the tapestry. He thought hard on the room he'd found earlier and walked back and forth three times. The silver door appeared moments later and Harry walked through, only to find to his dismay that Hermione was not in the Room of Requirement.

He shrugged and decided to leave, heading toward the Gryffindor Dormitories instead. The corridors were deserted at this time of the evening, with the students either studying or doing homework in their Common Rooms, so Harry found his path unhindered.

Walking through the entrance to the Gryffindor tower, Harry spied Ron with Dean and Seamus playing exploding snap in the corner. Aside from a few younger students doing homework near the fireplace, the Common Room was empty. Hermione was nowhere to be seen.

 _Damn, where is that brilliant witch?_ Harry wondered. He was beginning to worry, as he had not seen his friend since that morning in the Room of Requirement. Thinking hard, Harry decided to check the Marauders map to find her and hurried up the stairs into his dormitory. It took him a few seconds to find the crinkled yellow parchment in his trunk among the mass of clothes and activate it.

"Where are you Hermione?" Harry whispered, scanning the map. He couldn't find her on any floor and felt his apprehension rising each second. Harry was about to go find Professor McGonagall in desperation when he finally spied Hermione's name in her dormitory pacing up and down the room. Harry knew instantly why, too. Being one of her closest friends for five years, he had learned a few of her habits whenever she was thinking hard or studying for an exam.

 _She is probably just trying to find where Firebirds reside,_ Harry surmised. He wanted to go tell her that he'd sent Dobby to hopefully find one, but he couldn't bypass the girls' dormitory gender wards. Before he had a chance to come up with some other plan, he was beset with a sudden fatigue that seeped into his bones. He started feeling light-headed as his eyelids grew heavy, a sure sign of blood loss. Harry closed the Marauders Map and seized a vial of blood-replenishing potion from the bedside table, reluctantly tossing the vile substance down his throat which kick started his gagging reflex.

He decided to call it an early night and hopped into his four-poster bed, intent on getting rest and washing away the fatigue he felt. His last thoughts that night were of Hermione, wondering if the brilliant witch would give up and head to bed before slowly succumbing to the sweet bliss of dreams.

* * *

"Harry, wake up."

"Wake up!"

"I think there's something wrong with him"

"HARRY WAKE UP!"

Harry woke with a start though he immediately wished he hadn't when the world spun sharply, making him feel woozy. He could barely move his body, it felt so rigid and numb. Extending his arm out to grab his glasses, his extremities seemed almost to refuse to obey him. Someone must have realized how he was struggling, and he felt his glasses shoved into his hands when they were passed to him. As his peripheral vision improved, he noticed that Neville, Seamus, Dean and Ron were all awake, standing around his four poster bed and looking at him with worry.

"Harry, are you alright, you look a little pale?" Neville asked him apprehensively.

Harry wanted to lie and say he felt fine, but he didn't feel good at all, especially with the extreme fatigue in his limbs hitting him like a freight train.

"N-no I'm pretty stuffed, N-Neville," Harry gasped.

"Come on, we need to get you to Madam Pomfrey – fellas help me," Neville said firmly, looking over at the other three teenagers.

They obeyed immediately and helped Harry out of his bed, half-lifting his body as he struggled to stay upright. It took them twice as long as normal to reach the hospital wing with Harry stumbling every few steps. As they entered, Madam Pomfrey noticed their approach with a stern gaze and quickly approached them.

"What is – Merlin, quickly get him to a bed," Pomfrey said, falling back on her training when she saw Harry's pale complexion.

Madam Pomfrey took out her wand and began to cast diagnostic charms his him, frowning every so often. It took her ten minutes to complete her diagnosis while Harry's dorm mates stood a respectful distance away, watching him carefully. Harry tried to focus, but the world was still spinning madly, making him dizzy and it didn't help that Madam Pomfrey was waving her wand madly in his face.

"I was afraid of this," Pomfrey said with a sigh. She looked sadly at Harry

"W-what is it?" Harry asked, breathing hard.

"Mr Potter, it takes most wizards and witches a week to develop a resistance to a potion they use daily, however there are exceptions to the rule." Pomfrey explained.

"What do you mean?" he asked, annoyed at her tendency to give him bad news every day.

"In the case of extremely powerful individuals, their large magical core causes them to cultivate a resistance much earlier. Depending on how high their magical potential is, they can become immune after three or even two days at the most," she replied. With a sigh, the nurse re-applied a pain numbing charm over his chest.

"So I've built up a resistance earlier than expected...w-what does that mean?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.

"Mr Potter, I don't know how to say it but...the blood-replenishing potion no longer works because you're such a powerful wizard. In fact, it looks like the potion stopped working last night," Pomfrey replied.

"Well – shite," Harry said simply. He knew he was out of time, judging from the look on the old witch's face, guessing he had less than a day at the most.

"Can't you give me something? Anything?" Harry asked her.

"Well, I do have a stronger, more potent potion, but you can only have it once...after that it would be far too dangerous," Pomfrey said, giving him a dejected look. She had never failed to heal a student in all her years at Hogwarts, not until now. It gnawed at her that she would fail now, especially when it was her favorite student who was dying under her care.

"Excuse me, I'll retrieve the potion," Pomfrey said as she walked back to her office.

"Blimey, Harry, you can't catch a break," Ron stated.

For once, Ron's knack for succinct understatements made Harry chuckle, however that turned into a wheezing as his chest flared up in pain.

"Damn it, it hurts to laugh," Harry gasped.

Madam Pomfrey returned with a potion that had a faint golden hue through the transparent vial glass. She pressed the potion to Harry's lips and tilted it slowly until the golden liquid flowed down his throat. For once, the potion didn't taste dreadful, and Harry found himself enjoying the fruity flavor.

Almost immediately he could feel the effects. The lethargy he had been experiencing since he'd awoken diminished rapidly, the numbness in his rigid frame washed away, and he was soon full of energy. He felt as though he could run a marathon without tiring, causing Harry to smirk.

"Wow, whatever this stuff is, it worked!" Harry grinned, flexing his hands.

"I should hope so, I can't give you another one of those again," Pomfrey responded.

"What is it?" he asked curiously.

"It's a concoction I've been working on – a combination of pepper-up and adrenaline that muggles use in their medicine."

"Cool, thanks Madam Pomfrey. I'm suddenly, hungry so I'd like to get out of here," Harry said.

"Hold on young man, I can't let you go. You have less than a day...to..."

"To live? Then I would like to spend my day not lying in this bed. I want to make the most of this, and that stuff you gave me works. I feel good as new, so I can walk again on my own," Harry interrupted her.

Madam Pomfrey stared long and hard at Harry, uncertain of what to do. Normal procedures were to keep patients in her wing under supervision, but Harry did not have long until the blood loss would shut down his organs. She could see his pleading face, his desire to spend the most of his remaining time out there instead of being cooped up in the hospital wing.

With a sigh, Pomfrey nodded her assent. "Alright, but I want someone to stay with you at all times, no buts young man."

"Alright, one of my friends can stay with me," Harry agreed eagerly.

Before Pomfrey could reply Neville interrupted. "I'll stay with Harry."

"Fine, but if there's anything wrong, bring Harry straight back here, Mr Longbottom," Pomfrey insisted, giving Neville one of her famous, pointed glares. Neville wilted under her gaze, but his posture changed and he stood firm by Harry's bed, unrelenting.

"Thanks Madam Pomfrey," Harry said as he stood. Grabbing Neville, they quickly left before Pomfrey could change her mind.

"Harry!" A voice shouted behind him.

 _Oh no,_ Harry silently cursed.

Stopping by the exit to the wing, Harry turned around to find the Matron looking him mournfully. "I'm sorry I was not able to cure you, in all my years I have never failed a student – until now," she said.

"It's ok ma'am, thank you for trying, though." Harry replied, giving her the famous Potter lopsided smile.

She nodded sadly, and returned to her office, though not without giving one last parting glance at Harry. Harry and his dorm mates exited the wing in silence and headed toward the Great Hall for breakfast. The group was silent as they made their way, occasionally glancing at Harry with trepidation.

Harry, for his part, couldn't stand the silence or the looks his dorm mates gave him. As they passed the entrance to the Great Hall, said, "Guys, I'll be fine. Why don't you go get something to eat?" He wanted to go to the Room of Requirement to look for answers, but he wasn't ready to reveal its secret to anyone else other than Mia. He wasn't sure if anyone else should **ever** know of its full capabilities.

As he suspected, everyone except Ron began to protest, but they shut up quickly when Harry glared at them. Ron just shrugged carelessly, as the idea of eating food had long since taken hold of him. Every second that Harry wasted was another second he was closer to death, so without preamble, he marched purposefully away while the group, including Neville who was left stammering in his wake.

Within minutes, Harry found himself once again inside the Room of Requirement, pacing back and forth. As he paced, the raven-haired teenager ran through his limited options and realized there wasn't anything else he could do. He had already tried Fawkes' healing tears, Madam Pomfrey had done all she could, and his best friend Mia was no doubt still looking for a solution even now. He had the distinct impression that she wouldn't be able find anything in time.

He recalled the day before when the Room had seemingly provided answers every time he or Mia had thought desperately of their desires and intent. With that startling realization, he squeezed his eyes shut and began thinking frantically.

 _ **I need help, please help me. I need a way to solve my problem. PLEASE help me.**_

Harry opened his eyes slowly, expecting rare books to pop into existence. To his disappointment, nothing happened! Harry groaned in frustration and kept pacing around the Gryffindor lounge and table, muttering obscenities. "Why didn't the Phoenix tears work...I mean it's the most potent substance on the planet!"

"I would be surprised if it did," replied a melodious voice from behind him.

Harry whipped around in surprise to see a young girl smiling serenely at him. She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, causing her old-fashioned dress robe with dark blue and silver highlights to flutter softly. He knew the wizarding world was fashionably centuries behind the muggles, but this girls' clothing appeared old even by their standards.

She appeared to be about eight years old, and her body was lithe and athletic with fair skin that didn't look like it had ever seen much sun. What was most startling was the fiery dark red hair with wavy curls whipping softly about as if a non-existent wind was blowing through her silky strands. Harry couldn't help gasping as he stared into her deep, soulful eyes, the color of a vivid green that matched his own. He felt naked under those intense eyes staring at him, eyes that belonged to an _Old Soul_. She gave a smile that was mischievous and full of mirth combined with the barest hint of innocence.

"Um...er...what eek?" Harry spluttered.

The girl gave a tinkling laugh and smirked at him. "You're rather cute, Harry Potter," she said, giggling.

"I – I'm just a little stunned. Um, who are you?" Harry asked, quickly getting over his shock.

"That should be obvious, duh," she replied, giving him a pitying look before deciding to offer a hint. "You wanted the Room to help your solve problems...and you got me," she said simply.

Harry just stared at her, wondering if he had finally lost it. Maybe his subconscious had dreamt her up to tell him that he had finally gone insane?

"I'm Hogwarts, silly," the girl said with a pout.

"Oh – wait, as in Hogwarts, the castle?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Yes, I am the castle!" Hogwarts replied, giving a look as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Uh...um nice to meet you. Not to be rude or anything but how is this possible?" Harry asked.

He suddenly felt dizzy and wondered whether the blood loss or the shock was getting to him as he sat down on the lounge, never without his eyes off of Hogwarts.

"Hello, Harry Potter. Yes, I really am Hogwarts, but I don't like that name much...mmm you may call me Iris. It is appropriate., after all. Like the legends of the Greek goddess, I am a messenger," the newly-christened Iris replied.

Iris frolicked toward Harry and sat next to him on the lounge. Harry couldn't help reaching out to poke her arm, curious to see if she was real. He was pleasantly surprised when she appeared solid, which brought to an end all lingering doubt about her.

"When, you're done abusing me, we can get to the part why Fawkes could not heal you," Iris said with mirth.

"What- no I...you...just wanted to know if you were real. You make it sound like I'm some sort of deviant monster," Harry spluttered, blushing heavily.

"Relax, I would have thought Gred and Forge had instilled some humor in you," Iris said with a giggle.

"How do you know the Weasley twins? Better yet how do you know about my injury and ho—" Harry asked.

"Harry, relax! I'll explain all that later, but it looks like you don't have much time. I'll start with Fawkes. He couldn't heal you because your injury is not a normal physical injury. Instead, it's a sort of a magical core damage which altered not only your core, but also your very essence or soul, if you will," Iris explained, sounding older than she looked.

"A normal phoenix can't heal magical cores or souls. Only an Alpha Phoenix,which is the King of all Phoenixes, can heal that sort of injury. And before you ask, no, there hasn't been an Alpha Phoenix in existence for 800 years, unfortunately," Iris clarified.

"Then I'm so utterly screwed! ...Shite," Harry muttered.

"Language, Harry, do you remember the book about Firebirds that the Room provided you?" Iris asked, glaring at him for his appalling language. At his nod, she continued.

"Firebirds are the only other creatures on Earth that can match an Alpha Phoenix in terms of healing properties. They are both immortals, though in a uniquely different ways. Phoenixes are constantly in a cycle of dying and being reborn from their own ashes, but Firebirds stop ageing altogether when they reach maturity so long as their magical fire doesn't burn out. In a way, Firebirds are actually superior to phoenixes because they don't age or die, whereas the latter have to die to be reborn. Your hope lies with finding a Firebird to heal you, Harry."

"Well that gives me some hope, but I wouldn't know where to start. I did ask Dobby to find a Firebird and—" Harry began before Iris interrupted him.

"Actually, it was a good thing you sent the elf to find the creature. House elves are probably one of the few beings capable of finding the mystical birds. Their magic is incredible, and wizards often take them for granted."

"I know - wizards and witches seem to take a lot of things for granted. I just wish I had more time to appreciate everything. I'm so ignorant about the magical world, thanks to a meddling old fool who left me on the doorstep of magic-hating relatives," Harry responded morosely.

"Harry, if you want, I can teach you all about the magical society. I am over 800 years old, despite my appearance, and have watched tens of thousands of students graduate from my halls. I know everything there is to know about magic, so I can teach you if you want, but I want you to survive first." Iris said. The girl placed her arms around Harry and gave him a tight hug. She continued speaking, though there was a hitch in her voice.

"I watched your parents grow in my halls...I know that they wouldn't want you to give up. Be strong for them, and for me," she murmured, breaking from the hug. The girl gave him a watery smile which he returned one of his famous Potter grins. That caused Iris to smile fondly at him.

"Don't worry Iris, I'm not a quitter. I'll keep fighting to the end," Harry whispered.

"I know, Harry, I know. I just wish I knew whether or not your house elf will find the bird in time."

"I trust Dobby, I know he won't fail," he replied with conviction. Dobby had never failed him before. Well, except for when the hyper elf was trying to kill him in his second year.

There was a loud crack that reverberated around the room and Dobby appeared before him, looking tired and dirty.

"See, I told you," Harry grinned impishly, causing Iris to roll her eyes with amusement.

Before she could make a snarky reply, Dobby collapsed unconscious to the floor.

"DOBBY!" Harry shouted, now looking worried. He ran to the house elf and tried to wake the small creature by shaking his bony shoulders.

"Dobby, please wake up," Harry implored. To his relief, the small elf woke up slowly.

"Dobby is here, Harry Potter, Sir," Dobby gasped, panting heavily. The elf tried to stand but collapsed, too weak to move.

"Dobby what's wrong?" Harry asked.

"I believe the elf is suffering from magical exhaustion. It seems he used up all remnant of Malfoy magic in his body attempting to find the Firebird. My wards tell me he doesn't have much magic left in his body, Harry," Iris replied by way of explanation, her emerald eyes looking curiously at Dobby.

"Mistress Hogwarts is correct, Dobby bes using too much magic to teleport long distances there and back, Harry Potter," Dobby agreed.

"Dobby finds Firebirdy, but Dobby can't takes you there as Dobby is too weak... failed... Dobby failed the Great Harry Potter," Dobby cried weakly.

"What do you mean, Malfoy magic?" Harry asked.

"Don't you know? Elves need a wizard or witch to bond with in order to survive. They are symbiotic creatures that leech a portion of magic from their masters. Free elves don't live long," Iris replied.

"What can I do to help him, Iris?" Harry asked frantically.

"Dobby needs a new master to absorb magic. The only way to help him is to bond with him," she replied.

"But.."

"He's dying, Harry...if you want to save him, this is the only way," Iris interrupted.

"No, I won't take his freedom away from him. It's his choice if he wants to remain a free elf," Harry insisted, shaking his head firmly.

Turning to the elf, Harry looked at this amazing creature – no, friend, and asked,"Dobby, do you wish to bond with me? I'll understand if you wish to remain free, but you're my friend, and I don't want to see you die. If you bond with me, I promise to treat you right. If you want a wage working for me, you have only to ask."

Dobby stared, his tennis-ball-sized eyes wide with wonder. "Harry Potter wants Dobby to work for him? Dobby is Harry Potter's friend?"

"Yes, you're my friend, but I understand if you don't—"

"Dobby wants to bond with Harry Potter," Dobby squeaked as a large smile spread from ear to ear.

 _Mia is going to kill me_ , Harry thought silently. _But Dobby is so happy, just look at him._

"Ok Dobby, let's do this...but I want to get one thing straight. You are free to leave at any time. Let me know, and I'll give you clothes, ok?" Harry said, giving his small, eccentric friend a smile. Dobby nodded weakly, still smiling at Harry with awe.

"What do I have to do to bond with Dobby?" Harry asked Iris. The girl/castle had been watching the byplay with amusement and not a little awe. It took her a full five seconds to respond.

"Um, all you have to do is clasp Dobby's hand with your own and say 'I, Harry James Potter, accept this elf Dobby into House Potter, so mote it be'. Dobby will know what to do next," she replied.

Harry did as instructed and held Dobby's clammy hand in his own. "I, Harry James Potter, accept this elf Dobby into House Potter, so mote it be."

Dobby blinked then closed his eyes in concentration for a split second before a pale blue light emanated from his hand and extended from him to Harry. Harry could feel a small tug on his magical core and before he knew it, Dobby's entire body lit up, surrounded by the same glowing blue hue all over his small body.

The transformation took a second to complete, but it revealed a new Dobby standing in place of the old one. Gone was the old dirty pillowcase, and in its place was a new, dark maroon uniform with dark blue patterned stripes hugging Dobby's form. On his chest was what Harry guessed to be the Potter crest, and it looked as though Dobby had grown several inches.

Dobby stood tall and proud, feeling every bit as strong as he looked. Long gone was the sick clammy hue of his skin, replaced by a healthy skin tone. If Harry didn't know any better, he would have suspected Dobby was dazed – no, drunk, by the amount of magic saturating him.

"Wow, Master Harry is very powerful," Dobby whispered in awe.

"Hey, none of that Master business, just call me Harry," Harry protested half-heartedly, still surprised from the transformation.

"I cannot, Master Harry, since I work for you now. It simply wouldn't be proper to call you anything else," Dobby responded stubbornly.

Harry sighed. _Yep Mia is going to kill me._

Iris noticed his grimace and giggled. "Oh cheer up, Harry, Dobby has three times the amount of magic in him than before. He can take you to the Firebird now."

"Right! Dobby, can you teleport us to the location of the Firebird?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I believe I can – easily, I might add, sir," Dobby replied with a slight nod.

"Oh, wait, I should probably let Mia know first before we...," Harry mumbled, then without warning he felt the dizziness come back in full force. He lost his balance and fell sideways, grunting as he hit the floor.

Both Iris and Dobby were at his side in an instant, and Iris glared at his chest where a copious amount of blood was soaking through his shirt.

"Harry, I don't believe you have much time left, and I can't go with you since I am tethered to this Room and to my Castle foundation." Iris said softly.

"I don't think I have enough energy to find this Firebird," Harry gasped.

Iris nodded in understanding and gave him a penetrating stare for a moment. The small girl/castle extended her hand and placed it on his chest, eliciting a sharp exhale from Harry. Before he could open his say anything, he felt a vast, raw amount of magical energy spread from Iris's small hand and into into his body, reinvigorating him until the fatigue washed away.

"Here, I gave you some of my magic. It should sustain you for a _little_ while," Iris said softly. Harry had never felt more alive or stronger than he did now, though he suspected that the effects of borrowing a little magic from Hogwarts would be temporary. He nodded gratefully to the girl as he gingerly stood.

"Thanks, Iris, something tells me I don't have long, so I should go," Harry replied, grinning at the small girl.

"Hold on, my wards tell me there is someone outside the door. I don't want anyone to know of my existence, so I'm going to leave. Please keep my presence a secret, Harry," Iris implored, giving a fleeting glance at the door.

"Alright, your secret is safe with me," Harry replied, nodding firmly. The girl/castle gave him a warm smile and faded out of existence without a sound.

There was a loud clunk as the silver door opened to reveal an angry Hermione standing there, panting loudly. The frazzled girl marched toward Harry with a fiery glare aimed at his direction.

"HARRY JA—" Hermione started but faltered when she saw how her friend was clutching his chest. With a gasp, she ran toward him. "Harry, what is wrong?"

"It's nothing, Mia," Harry replied quickly. "Just a bit tired is all. How did you find me?"

Hermione wasn't fooled in the least. She could see how pale he looked, and the pain in his eyes said it all. He was _dying_.

"Neville came and told me what happened in the hospital wing. He was frustrated that you left him behind, so he went and got me to help find you," Hermione replied absently. "I had a feeling you were here...you know, Neville cares about you."

"I know, and I'm sorry to worrying you both. I came here to this amazing room, hoping that there was some miracle book that would fix this stupid thing," Harry replied, pointing at his chest.

"Oh' god, Harry I am so sorry I wasn't able to find out where the Firebirds live," Hermione replied tearfully.

"Hermione—"

"I tried and tried, but I couldn't find anything," Hermione continued, and started pacing back and forth.

"Mia..."

"There were no books or information, I even asked Hagrid if he even heard of Firebirds before...god, I'm so sorry," Hermione sobbed.

"Mia..."

"I failed you Harry...I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"MIA!" Harry nearly shouted to gain her attention. The young girl snapped her head around, eyes wide as she stopped.

"Mia, I found the Firebird. Dobby was just about to take me to the creature now," Harry said with a slight smile.

It took Hermione a few seconds to comprehend what Harry had said, her mouth agape in shock. Then she gave an embarrassed whimper and glared at her friend.

"Why didn't you say so?" Hermione demanded.

"Gee I wonder...," Harry pondered, tapping his chin in mock thought. Then he broke into a wide grin and replied, "Because you're pretty cute when you get fired up like that."

There was a silence as they stared at each other, both blushing. After a minute, Harry was the first to break eye contact when he turned to face Dobby.

"Dobby, are you ready to take me there?" he asked.

"Yes, Master Harry, shall we go?" The elf replied.

"Yes let's—"

"Hold on a minute, I'm coming with you," Hermione interrupted, glaring at Harry.

"Mia it's better if you stay here," Harry said, shaking his head.

"Master Harry, it is too dangerous for Miss Granger to come along," Dobby interjected, as if sensing his Master's consternation.

Harry grinned at Dobby, silently thanking the elf for the intervention.

"The jungle is full of Nundu and other dangerous creatures, and I don't have enough magic to transport more than one person." Dobby added.

Harry face-palmed, causing a noisy echo to reverberate around the large room. _Dobby is an amazing elf, sometimes, but damn if he doesn't have the tact of a walrus. He could have left out the part about Nundu and dangerous creatures,_ Harry silently moaned.

Sensing an imminent Mt. Hermione eruption, Harry intervened quickly.

"Mia, it nearly drained Dobby of his magic just to make the first trip. He only has enough magic to transport me there and back." Harry said. _No way am I letting her get anywhere near a Nundu...not even I'm crazy enough to do that. Uh, well, maybe, I am dying after all._

"I-well fine. But you better come back, Harry Potter, or else," Hermione finally said. The young witch stepped up and gave him a rib-crushing hug. Harry could feel her body shaking in fear, though all he could do to ease her worry was to hug her back with the same gusto.

"Don't worry, Mia, I'll be back," Harry said, trying to exhibit some confidence in his voice and gave her a wink. "Dobby I'm ready."

The elf jumped to his side and grabbed his arm. Harry stared at Hermione, wondering whether he would see her again or not. He had regrets about not having asked her out to Hogsmeade or taking her to the Yule Ball, but there was no point crying over spilt milk. If he survived this, he wouldn't hesitate to ask her out on a date. That gave him extra incentive to live, but he did wonder whether Hermione would reciprocate his feelings for her.

Hermione stood and watched Harry miserably, wondering if she would ever see him again. For the longest time she'd had a crush on Harry, but it seemed as though he didn't find her the least bit attractive. She knew she wasn't the most beautiful witch in Hogwarts, and she could certainly be overbearing at times, so why would he want to date a girl like her?

This boy who had saved her and anchored her to the wizarding world was about to leave, and it was likely she would never see him again. What would keep her anchored to Hogwarts then? She doubted she would ever find another boy...no...man as kind and caring as Harry and fall in love with them. _Oh to hell with this, I just want to know what it feels like...just this once,_ Hermione decided.

"Harry!" Hermione called out. She leapt at him and attached her lips to his passionately, pouring everything she had into the kiss. Harry was momentarily stunned, then he started kissing back with equal fervor. They continued kissing, tongues battling for domination until they were forced to separate lest they die from asphyxiation.

"Wow," Harry whispered huskily. He stared intensely at Hermione, giving her a dazed but exultant look.

"Wow," said Hermione, mirroring Harry.

Shaking out of his daze, Harry mumbled. "I have to go".

Hermione nodded and whispered. "Go"

Dobby gave a smile wide enough to split his face in a Grinch-like fashion. The elf grabbed Harry's arm again and prepared to teleport them away. No words were needed, for there was nothing to be said.

With an abated breath, Harry stared longingly at Hermione, noting how beautiful she looked, as she smiled back at him. He gave a sigh and nodded to Dobby who snapped his fingers, transporting away from Hogwarts with a loud crack. In the wake of their departure, Hermione crumbled to the floor, openly weeping in anguish.

 **End Chapter.**

* * *

 **Fan-made Trope:**

"Where's Ginny when we need a mary-sue dammit" - Harry

"Dobby be giving you this Felix Felicis Master Harry" - Dobby

"Um Dobby, why are you giving me this?" - Harry

"You is getting lucky finding your mary-sue then" - Dobby

"*coughs*...something tells me I won't need luck" Harry

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **We finally get the to climax. Will Harry survive? Stay tuned for next chapter!**

 **On a side note, I am amazed with how many readers have begun to read my story...there's 3,500 views already which is incredible.**

 **And on that bombshell, it is time for another chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5 - Evolution 2point0

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, _"Hey, I know what you're thinking...no it's not what it looks like. Harry aint a slave and I'm not the master...atleast I don't think I am."_

 _Review Comments:_

 _emthereble_ \- Thank you, I'm relieved the plot makes sense ahaha

 _wilsonsophie18_ – Thank you! You're amazing :P I like Dumbledore bashing fics as well which is why I'm writing one haha

 _lokarryn_ – Cheers

 _Deathmvp_ – Yah, cannon Harry was not too bright, his character development will progress but I'm making sure not to shift it too quickly in case it becomes too OOC.

Nightfalls – Thank you for your review. There was a lot of good things that Ron did as a friend but keep in mind he did an equal amount of bad things which has detracted from his good values overall. It makes him a sort of "ok" friend but not someone you could trust implicitly which is what Harry needs more than anything in a time of war. Rest assured, Ron being affected by the brains is a temporary thing. His character will be expanded somewhat to explain his behavior but you'll have to read ahead to find out :P

 _Hawkmoon888_ – Thank you mate, it's not easy updating quickly but fun all the same :) Got all the pairings sorted out and I think you'll like them. Ron's fate will make you laugh your pants off :P

 _Thundramon_ – Cheers! I wanted to add Isis even if it sounds deus ex machina because if Harry spends a lot of time in the ROR researching alone, it's going to get pretty boring so why not talk to a walking, talking fountain of information and castle avatar keep Harry company? The tropes are not part of the story...just funny conversations I made to take the bite out of mistakes or inconsistencies JK Rowling made. You're welcome to ignore the tropes because they have no bearing on the story. The scenes where Ron appears too thick or Pomfrey too oblivious will be explained in later chapters. I intended for Ron to be a little dumb after the brain incident on purpose :P

 **A/N: Hope you enjoy the next chapter of Tempore Cor. I would like to thank Philosophize for editing this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 5

For Harry, the effects of elf 'apparition' were slightly disorientating, making him feel as if he were standing in two places at once. With a loud bang, Harry and Dobby popped into what appeared to be a dense jungle. They stumbled as they landed on green foliage which sprouted everywhere, branching from shrubbery to the roots of tall trees. Harry gasped as he beheld the sight of the jungle, thick with saturated mist that clung to the fauna. Where exactly Dobby had transported them, he didn't know, but he felt as though this _ancient_ place had been left untouched and undisturbed by humans. The sound of wildlife chirping animatedly startled Harry out of his reverie and he looked around, wary of dangerous animals lurking about.

"Dobby, which way is the Firebird?" Harry asked. He didn't feel particularly safe in this jungle, so the faster they found the immortal bird, the better.

"This way, Master Harry," Dobby replied timidly as he grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him along toward a small clearing ahead.

As they walked, Harry glanced at Dobby while frowning in thought. He had noticed that Dobby's speech had improved after his bonding, which puzzled him.

"Say, Dobby, I noticed that you can speak perfect English now,"Harry began, but was interrupted by a loud roar. Harry whipped his head around at the disturbance, which seemed to originate deeper in the jungle.

"That would be the Nundu, Master," Dobby whispered. "As long as we don't make too much noise, it shouldn't notice us."

"Right then...Nundu and noise is bad," Harry squeaked, trying in vain to sound brave.

They continued along a narrow path that took them deeper into the jungle, where the air was dense and thick with the smell of ancient bark and mold.

"Dobby, how come you can speak so well?" Harry whispered.

"Oh, that would be because I am bonded to you, Master Harry." Dobby replied.

"What about when you were bonded to the Malfoys?" Harry inquired.

"House elves have always been intelligent. The nasty Malfoys wanted me to talk stupid, you see, because it made them feel even more superior and better than us." Dobby spat. "Some nasty families like to belittle my kind and demean our status further, but we cannot break our bonds to our masters unless we want to die."

"That's horrible, though it explains why you didn't break away from the Malfoys...you needed their magic to survive," Harry said, horrified.

"Yes, Master, but now I have bonded to you and I have never been happier" replied the proud elf.

"Dobby—"

Harry didn't get a chance to finish, as an ear-shattering roar came from right in front of them. Harry took one look and almost lost control of his bladder. Standing rigid before them was an enormous cat with golden bright eyes and elongated fangs protruding from its snarling mouth. The cat looked almost twice the size of a racehorse as it towered over Harry, and its matted fur was blood red.

"Nundu!" Dobby squeaked in fear.

The Nundu glared at the duo and stalked towards them with wide measured steps. With each step, the predator's muscled physique rippled and screamed power and speed.

"Oh shite-," Harry gasped . He didn't wait for the creature to exhume poisonous gases and cast the Bubblehead charm around himself and Dobby. "Shite, there's no way we can outrun it."

Harry immediately began casting powerful spells at the large cat, but they had little effect. " _Bombarda! Reducto! Stupefy! Incarcerous!_... Shite, it's not working."

The young teenager felt rather than saw Dobby flinging his elf magic at the Nundu, and he, too, failed to affect the predator. Harry thought over his options and came to the realization that they were utterly screwed. They couldn't run and they couldn't kill a creature which normally took one hundred wizards to bring down.

" _Confringo! Petrificus Totalus! Deprimo!, Relashio_!" Harry yelled, waving his wand in a flurry. Nothing worked on the magical cat as it bounded toward them, now enraged that its prey was fighting back.

"Damn it, _Pervado Incisus_!" Harry cried in desperation. The cutting spell flew at the Nundu and splashed across its broad chest, drawing a shallow cut. Not even a dark cutting curse used by Antonin Dolohov against Hermione was effective against the Nundu.

The large cat was almost upon them as Harry and Dobby were backed into a corner where the foliage was too dense to pass through. In his panic, Harry felt an ocean of pulsating energy fill him up giving him a sensation of pricks and needles in his extremities. In an instant, Harry felt the throbbing pulse inside him deflate like a balloon, which had the immediate effect of freezing Time completely. To his amazement, Harry saw everything stop, including Dobby who was in a defensive stance, glaring defiantly at the Nundu.

More importantly, the Nundu was also frozen in the air just two feet from him, its sharp claws extended and ready to rip him apart. The jungle was eerily silent, even the air was still as Harry walked carefully toward the Nundu. The only sound came from his footsteps which echoed with a strange discord. He waved his hand over the Nundu's snarling face and smirked when there was no reaction.

Harry wasn't sure how long he could keep Time frozen, but he wasn't about to waste this golden opportunity to escape with Dobby. He walked back to Dobby's frozen form and picked the lithe elf up. He was shocked to find that Dobby was light as a feather.

"Mmm you should be heavier than that mate...you're not a vegetarian, are you?" Harry muttered in astonishment.

There was no answer and he didn't expect one as he hefted Dobby over his shoulder and strolled casually past the Nundu, exiting the clearing. Nothing moved in the jungle, and there was not a sound save for his breathing and footfalls which made him queasy. He walked for five minutes in the opposite direction with Dobby's frozen form rigid on his shoulder.

Harry came to a stop next to a small boulder, dripping with sweat and panting heavily. He didn't know if the Nundu could track him, but he hoped that he had traveled far enough away that the Nundu wouldn't be able to smell them. Harry was more than anxious to resume Time, especially as the eerie silence was deafening and he felt somewhat claustrophobic.

Frowning in thought, he tried to will Time to resume, but nothing happened. Harry tried a second time with no results and decided to wait until his unique ability turned off on its own. He gently placed the frozen Dobby on the ground and began to scrutinize the jungle around them. To his right he saw a cluster of strange looking squirrels with horns on their foreheads, all frozen in place. To his left he found a flock of birds with large beaks, reminding him of prehistoric birds he once read about in a muggle encyclopedia. The birds were suspended in the air, frozen and defying gravity, which Harry took in stride.

Harry considered at the small boulder next to Dobby and frowned. He was no scientist, but he assumed that since Time was frozen, then gravity would have no effect on objects. In theory, he should be able to lift that boulder with ease. Shrugging, Harry walked over to the boulder and wrapped his arms around it.

He pulled it up, expecting it to be heavy, but he was pleasantly surprised to discover that it felt no heavier than a feather, like Dobby, despite the fact that it looked like it must have weighed at least 1200 pounds.

"Flying tits...I'm the Hulk," Harry mumbled, smirking as he held up above his head as if it were a beach volleyball.

Harry felt something tug in his magic core and with a jerk, Time unfroze. Normally, he would be amazed at the spectacle of Time freezing and unfreezing, but since he was holding a heavy boulder in his hands which was now being subjected to gravity once more, he was too busy jumping out of the way. The heavy rock smashed on to the ground with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Aaahhhh," Dobby screamed. The frightened elf was looking from the large rock to Harry and back with a dumbfounded expression.

"Ugh, note to self – don't hold heavy objects when time unfreezes," Harry grunted, flexing his bleeding hands which had been sandpapered by the boulder.

"What happened Master...how did we get here, where is the Nundu?" Dobby asked in shock.

"Dobby, relax! I sort of stopped Time and carried you here...wherever here is. I think we're out of danger since the Nundu is all the way back there," Harry explained.

"Time?...do I even want to know Master?" Dobby asked, eyes twitching in disbelief.

"Err... probably not. Dobby, please take me to the Firebird before any other predators find us, ok?" Harry asked. He was starting to feel the onset of fatigue from blood loss combined with his use of time magic, which meant he didn't have much time.

"Right away, Master, follow me," the elf replied. They stumbled through the foliage, quickening their pace when they started hearing screeches and roars in the distance. The cacophony of sounds from the wildlife around them was surreal, something out of the dinosaur prehistoric age. As they walked further and further into the jungle, Harry could hear a faint cry that seemed out of place.

"Dobby, what is that?" Harry inquired tensely.

"Oh, no, Master, that sounded like a Firebird," Dobby replied as he tugged on his ears. The elf ran ahead with Harry stumbling behind, heading in the direction of the plaintive cries.

The closer they got, the more desperate the cries of the Firebird became. Harry didn't pay any attention to the vines and flora whipping him as he ran, so intent was he was on reaching their target. They finally tumbled into a clearing which had at its center the biggest tree Harry had ever seen in his life, easily dwarfing the other trees in the jungle. As impressive as that was, though, his eyes were drawn off to the side where a cluster of black wolves were circling around a small hatchling on the ground.

The baby bird was flapping helplessly, attempting to fly away from the wolves, but it was too young to get airborne. The hatchling cried pitifully, drawing an anguished gasp from Harry. He wasn't about to let a bunch of feral wolves tear the baby fledgling apart, so he did the only thing he could think of.

 _"Sonorus,"_ Harry whispered, pointing his wand at his throat.

"Hey, stay back!" he Harry yelled, his voice now amplified by the Sonorus Charm.

The effect was instant. Every wolf spun to face Harry, menacing snarls etched on their faces. They started stalking toward him, growling and yapping in a show of intimidation.

 _Oh crap_ , Harry thought. He had succeeded in drawing their attention, but now he was in danger. Thinking quickly, Harry came up with an idea and with a smirk; he pointed his wand at his throat once more.

 _"Sonorus Maxima,"_ he whispered.

Harry could feel the spell working, amplifying his voice twenty times normal. He gulped in a lungful of air and stood taller, attempting to look more menacing.

" **ROOOOAAAARRRRR** ," Harry yelled at the top of his lungs. The roar sounded like a perfect imitation of a wild Lion, only several times louder and thus far more intimating. The lion's roar was so loud, in fact, that it drowned out all other sounds in the jungle and for an instant, there was absolute silence.

Harry smirked as he watched the wolves backing away nervously, clearly intimated. However, it didn't last long as the wolves barked to each other before approaching Harry again, more cautiously this time.

"Uh...worth a shot, I guess," Harry muttered after he cancelled the Sonorus Charm, prodding his ear drums which were still ringing from the auditory onslaught. He started flinging spells into the wolves, hoping to drive them off. " _Bombarda! Reducto! Stupefy! Incarcerous!, Pervado Incisus!"_

Each spell missed as the wolves dodged and jumped out of the way, all while slowly continuing to advance on Harry. The teenager continued casting spells, but to his dismay he wasn't able to land a single hit. He noted with surprise that some of the wolves disappeared into shadows and reappeared elsewhere, causing him to silently curse at how everything in the jungle seemed to be immune to his magic. Dobby tried to help, throwing elf magic into the group, and while it appeared to be somewhat effective, he was unable to stop their advance.

 _This isn't working_ , Harry fumed. He recalled his encounter with the Nundu and how he managed to evade the dangerous cat. Hoping he could repeat the feat, he closed his eyes and thought back to the feeling that triggered his ability to manipulate time, painstakingly aware of his impending doom.

Harry started to panic when nothing happened, then he felt the familiar pulse slowly expand, followed by the tingling sensation as it spread outwards. He opened his eyes and recoiled in shock at the sight of a snarling wolf inches from his face. Taking stock of his surroundings, he noticed that everything was once again frozen in Time, much to his relief.

He stumbled shakily toward the frozen hatchling which was still in the clearing and gingerly picked it up. Now that he was out of danger, Harry could make out the features on the tiny Firebird. It had the body of a hawk, a silky feathery crown that extended past her neckline, and a sharp, curved beak. Harry had the distinct impression that the hatchling was a female. Her honeyed feathers were silver with blue vein-like streaks running through them and her eyes shone a brilliant sapphire.

Despite her hawk-like appearance, the magical bird differed from a normal hawk so much that he was certain they were a different species. What struck Harry was the sapphire-colored fire burning all over her supple body, flickering slowly like a glowing aura. Much to his surprise, it didn't burn his hands. Even more shocking was that the fire was _moving_ in slow motion, despite Time being frozen. Shaking his head, Harry filed that information away and cradled the hatchling to his chest as he walked over to Dobby.

The teenager lifted Dobby in one hand and proceeded to exit the clearing, intent on getting away from the wolves. He didn't make it far before he started stumbling from dizziness and fatigue. Then chaos reigned as the cacophony of sounds returned, followed by the wolves turning sharply to face Harry's group again. Time had resumed.

"Oh, for crying out aloud," Harry gasped. He collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted and cursing in frustration. Dobby stood over his prone master and tried to unsuccessfully to banish the wolves, all the while shouting defiantly, "Back away you brutes, YOU SHALL NOT TOUCH MASTER HARRY POTTER!" Harry had to admire the brave elf. No matter what, Hermione wasn't going to convince him to free Dobby in the name of "SPEW."

"Damn... I wasn't strong enough...I'm sorry, Hermione," Harry wheezed, clutching his bleeding chest. The blood loss was causing him to see black spots in his peripheral vision, and he felt light-headed. He knew he was dying, and there was nothing he could do.

The small hatchling eyed Harry, crooning softly while snuggling into his chest. She felt safe with this human that had saved her from the bad shadows. She wanted to heal him, but she knew she was too young to produce healing _pearls_ , so she stared helplessly at the dying human. She couldn't think of a way to save him...except for... but her father had vehemently warned her against doing the very thing she was considering. Could she willingly spend a lifetime with this human?

She stared into his beautiful green eyes, full of compassion and kindness. Making up her mind, the hatchling invoked an ancient bonding ritual that would mark her human, binding both of them together for all of eternity. The blue fire encompassing her body, extended outward, surrounding the startled human.

The bonding was almost complete, but there was something wrong. She sensed wrongness around the lightning curse upon the human's forehead. It felt dark and tainted, which she didn't like. She willed her fire to burn it out of him, but it took every ounce of her strength to destroy the taint. With a cry, she collapsed on the human's chest, completely exhausted.

As the fire receded around Harry, he felt every pore of his being thriving and brimming with energy. Harry felt his chest healing until his skin was smooth and unblemished, washing away the pent up stress and fatigue he had been feeling all week. This time the injury was gone for good, though when Harry looked closely, he could make out where the wound used to be, but instead of a scar there was a silver tattoo in the form of a jagged Sowilo rune symbol with a burning feather wrapped around it. Harry had never taken Ancient Runes as a subject but this was one rune symbol which he was intimately familiar with. The symbol of a lightning bolt. A guttural yap caused Harry to look up sharply, cursing his momentary lapse of concentration.

The wolves were now only a few feet away, completely surrounding them and snapping viciously at them. Harry calmly raised his wand and prepared a spell on his lips, determined to take out as many as he could. As one, the wolves leapt at him, intent on tearing him apart, when there was a flash of fire and a fully grown Firebird appeared in front of him. The huge Firebird was twice the size of a normal hawk and the golden feathers of its wing tips were brimming with reddish fire. The majestic bird circled Harry and screeched angrily at the wolves before spitting large, red fireballs from its beak at the predators. The wolves quickly scattered with muffled yelps, disappearing into the shadows that formed around them.

Harry dropped his wand arm and sighed in relief. A soft crooning almost immediately reminded Harry about the small bundle nestled against his chest, and when he looked down he did a double take at the changes to the small hatchling staring affectionately back at him. Most prominent were the glowing emerald eyes that shone with happiness and warmth. Her feathers were now a deep black with silver highlights at her wing tips instead of blue. As he stared at her beauty, he felt foreign emotions wash over him, puzzling him because he didn't understand where they were coming from. Then the realization hit him, shocking him to his core. The emotions were coming from the small bird which was humming with happiness as she burrowed deeper into his chest.

The teenager shakily rose to his feet and began stroking her feathers, much to her delight, and the most wonderful sensation of pleasure engulfed through their link. His joy was interrupted by a loud, angry screech, and when he looked up, he found the adult Firebird glaring at him.

"Oh, um, thank you for saving us," Harry said weakly.

 _ **Screeech.**_ Harry recoiled from the angry bird as it started diving at his head. He dodged with all the agility he could muster while keeping the hatchling safe in his arms.

"Hey, what's the deal?" Harry cried out. The majestic bird ignored his complaints and flew around for another pass, sharp claws extended.

" _Father...NO,"_ a soft feminine voice yelled. Harry looked around for the source of the voice, but all he could see was Dobby and the Firebirds. The adult Firebird landed on a boulder, still glaring at Harry. For a minute, nothing happened as the crimson bird stared at Harry, then there a deep monotone male voice broke the silence.

" _Why did you bond with the Human, Sinja?"_

At the sound of the voice, Harry whirled around, unable to find its source. He looked at Dobby, who was also searching for the source of the voice.

" _Father, I'm sorry, but this Human was dying...I wanted to help him,"_ replied the feminine voice, which Harry could only conclude was Sinja.

 _"So you were forced to_ _ **BOND**_ _?"_ the male voice roared.

The baby Firebird whimpered and tucked her head under Harry's arm. Harry looked back and forth between the two birds before he came to a dawning realization. The voices belonged to the birds! It defied all logic, yet they were communicating via what appeared to be telepathy. Harry was brought out of his reverie when he felt fear mingled with anxiety through his link with Sinja, and he began to get angry.

"Hey, you're scaring her! I appreciate you saving us, but don't punish... Sinja was it? Nobody forced anyone to bond or anything, ok?" Harry snarled, gritting his teeth. The father snapped his head to face Harry, evidently surprised at the teenager's tone. The crimson bird cocked his head from side to the side in thought as stared at Harry.

" _Explain,"_ Sinja's father demanded.

" _Harry-chick saved me from the shadows; I fell out of the home nest and landed on the green. The shadows surrounded me and I could not escape. But then, I was in the embrace of my bonded while he tried to fend off the shadows."_ Sinja replied softly.

" _I see. Little one, it does not explain why you_ _ **bonded**_ _with him. I warned you not to bond with any human, as your life would be tied to his and his to yours,"_ Sinja's father snarled.

" _I know father, but what could I do? I am too young to produce pearls, and Harry-chick was dying. I felt drawn to him, and when we bonded I saw his memories...Harry-chick is a good Human, Father."_

"Wait, you saw my memories? And what is this bond you're talking about?" Harry interrupted, not wanting to let this go.

" _The bond is the most sacred connection between two beings and it requires trust of both to complete. When my daughter bonded with you, she put her life in your hands,"_ Sinja's father replied, speaking to Harry as if he were a petulant child.

"I'm sorry about all this, but I didn't force her to do anything. I don't know what all this means but I won't hurt Sinja," Harry replied earnestly. The Firebird gave him a hard penetrating stare, and then he relaxed slightly mollified at Harry's answer.

" _Long ago, few of my kind bonded with humans, and that didn't turn out well. The bonded humans grew corrupt and desired immortality, so they began experimenting with their bonded Firebirds, causing great pain and duress, which eventually led to death for both human and Firebird,"_ the majestic bird explained.

Harry gasped, horrified at the lengths humans would go to achieve immortality. Who would want to hurt such beautiful, majestic creatures?

" _This is why I didn't want my daughter to bond with a human. What you humans call a 'familiar bond' is nothing more than a rudimentary link with owls, cats or snakes...which is nothing compared to a bond with full-blooded magical creatures. A bond is a deeper, intimate connection that also has an added benefit. Some of my daughter's abilities will have passed on to you and some of your abilities will have passed on to her."_ He continued, while glaring at Harry.

"Oh, well, I don't care about the benefits. I'm just glad she's safe. Do you know what those black wolves were?" Harry asked, wondering how the wolves manipulated the shadows.

" _Well, at least you bonded with a humble, selfless Hu-man, Sinja,"_ the male Firebird replied snootily. " _As for you question, those magical creatures are called Shadow Wolves, able to manipulate and travel through shadows."_

"Well that explains it, they kept avoiding my spells by using the shadows," Harry replied.

He began pacing in thought, right up until he heard a crunch. Lifting one foot, he was startled to see his broken glasses on the ground. He hadn't noticed when they fell off during the fight, and now they were smashed. Harry frowned and wondered why he could see perfectly without them, and became even more puzzled when he noticed the intensified smells of the jungle waft over him. He could perceive the sounds of the animals and rustle of leaves from at least 800 meters away, which left him stunned and confused. He also realized that his body felt stronger, faster and more agile than ever before. None of that, however, compared to the emotions that were rolling off of his bonded, Sinja. _This must be the benefits that he was talking about,_ Harry mused.

" _As your bonded, Sinja must go with you, BUT I warn you Hu-man that if you mistreat her, I will burn you to cinders and make you wish you were never born,"_ warned Sinja's father.

Harry felt a rush of sadness and sorrow from Sinja, and his heart almost broke from the onslaught. He began to stroke her feathers to soothe her ache. It felt wrong to tear her away from her father, so he was inclined to leave her behind.

"Surely, Sinja can stay with you?" Harry implored.

" _No! Sinja is extremely young, and your bond needs time to settle. If she does not go with you, it might permanently damage the bond."_

Harry nodded sadly. He didn't want to break apart a family, but conceded that it was necessary. Sinja looked up at her bonded and sent waves of affection and love to him.

 _ **It will be alright, Harry-chick, Father and I will see each other from time to time.**_

"Sinja, wow, are you speaking...ah, never mind, I don't know why I'm so surprised after everything I've seen," Harry muttered.

 _ **Yes, Harry-chick, we can speak in each other's minds. I am tired from bonding so I think I'll sleep now, but where you go, I go...**_

The small hatchling promptly fell asleep in Harry's arms. Despite the benefits he'd gained from the bonding, Harry also felt exhausted, and the idea of a soft, warm bed was particularly enticing at that moment. His tiredness must have shown in his demeanor, because his ponderings were broken by the male Firebird.

" _I smell a Nundu coming, it is time for you to go...I can trust you to keep Sinja safe because I scanned your mind while we spoke, but... Please take care of my daughter?"_ The bird asked.

"I – I promise!" Harry replied. Crimson eyes stared at his emerald ones until they broke contact at the sound of a loud roar in the distance.

Clutching Sinja to his chest, Harry spoke quickly, sensing the danger coming. "Dobby, quick, take us to border of the Forbidden Forest."

"Yes, Master Harry," Dobby responded as he grabbed Harry's snap of his fingers, they disappeared from the jungle, reappearing just outside the Forbidden forest with a loud crack. Harry landed gracefully on grass field and gave Dobby a relieved smile. The small elf had come through for him and saved his life. Making a mental note to give Dobby a special present at Christmas, Harry strode along the path towards Hogwarts with his elf in tow.

Harry couldn't explain it, but he felt the need to keep Sinja's existence a secret, so he gently tucked her into his breast pocket without waking her. His bonded was so tiny that most of her body snuggled into the pocket with just a bit of her head poking out, leaving Harry reeling from the cuteness factor.

"Dobby, thank you for your help. You were amazing, my friend," Harry complimented him, causing the elf to beam in response. "Can you keep Sinja's existence a secret for me?"

"I understand, Master, my lips as they say, are sealed," Dobby replied, making a zipping motion with his fingers.

"Excellent, let's go tell everyone that I'm still alive, then." They walked quickly toward the Hogwarts Entrance, passing Hagrid's hut along the way.

As they came closer, Harry could hear a commotion behind the game keeper's house. Deciding to investigate, Harry came around the house and was confronted by a sight which stopped him in his tracks cold.

" – LOONY bint ripped our trunks –"

" - Filthy maggot took her stuff too -"

"Well LOONY, what do you have to say for yourself?"

There before him was a crowd of angry Ravenclaws, surrounding a crying Luna on the ground. The blond girl had tear stains down her cheeks and she looked muddy and ruffled. It took Harry a mere second to understand what was happening, and he suddenly felt rage blossom into a miniature sun inside him. He had never felt this angry before, and wasn't certain if he could control himself... or if he even wanted to.

"This bint has been the bane of our existence in Ravenclaw. All her talk about stupid fairy tale creatures have been an embarrassment to our house," a random boy shouted, kicking Luna in the face. Luna cried out as she grasped her broken, bleeding nose.

Harry saw red and cast his hand out in the direction of the Ravenclaws, too angry to realize that he hadn't drawn his wand. He also didn't notice that he was casting wandless and silent magic, but he did notice the look of fear on every student when they saw him.

 **MAXIMA STUPIFY!**

The effect was immediate. Magic formed into a giant red ball in Harry's hand, which then flew into the Ravenclaw group. There the crimson ball exploded outwards, stunning every student in the vicinity, even though some had tried to shield themselves. As one, the group collapsed on the ground unconscious in a circle around a shell-shocked Luna who was staring at Harry in awe.

But Harry wasn't done yet, not by a long shot. He began casting curses on all fifteen Ravenclaws that had dared to harm Luna.

" _Conjunctivitis_... _Mimblewinble...Flagrante!_ " He took special pleasure in casting the last spell on each of their underwear, creating an unbearable burning sensation without causing any permanent damage. It would, however, ensure they would spend a week with burnt, cracking, flaking skin between their legs. Satisfied with his work, Harry began reviving the group until they were all wide awake and whimpering in pain.

"Potter, wha-"

 _"Confundo!"_ Harry snarled. As the spell took effect, he began listing off instructions that would keep them away from Luna.

"You are to stay away from Luna Lovegood at Hogwarts unless you are repentant and apologize to her. You will never reveal that it was Harry Potter that cursed you. You are to report to Professor Flitwick and tell him that all of you bullied and injured Luna Lovegood to the point that Ms Lovegood retaliated in self-defense. Am I clear?"

The dazed group mumbled out an affirmative under the effects of the overpowered Confundus Charm and began limping toward the castle. Harry gave a look of disgust at their retreating backs before he turned to Luna who was still lying on the ground, gingerly holding her nose.

Harry didn't waste any time reaching her side, embracing her in a gentle hug. Luna clung to him, sobbing into his chest while he did his best to rub soothing circles on her back. They stayed like that for several minutes until Luna calmed down, though she gave the occasion sniffle. Harry felt something warm inside him grow, not unlike when Sinja bonded with him, yet somewhat different.

The feeling grew stronger every second he continued hugging Luna, until he felt safe and complete, almost as if a missing piece of his soul had rejoined, making him whole. He looked at Luna, who looked back at him with widening eyes widening, and he instantly knew that she had felt the same thing. They reluctantly separated, though Harry kept giving her discreet glances while thinking about how beautiful she was.

"Luna, did they...did they do anything to you?" Harry asked.

"No, I was looking for some snuffle-quarks in the Forbidden Forest when they found me near Hagrid's hut. They pushed me into the ground and that horrid boy kicked me...nothing else happened." Luna replied without her usual eccentric behavior.

"I'm sorry this happened, but I'm glad I stopped them before they could do anything more," he said.

"Why are you apologizing? This wasn't your fault Harry...but thank you for saving me," Luna replied with a sad smile. The young blond gently kissed Harry on his cheek in gratitude and he felt the warm feeling inside him intensify at the contact.

"Oh...hmff!" Luna groaned, and she collapsed on the ground.

"Luna!" Harry exclaimed. He gently picked her up bridal-style and began trotting toward the castle at the fast pace.

"Dobby, can you please go get Hermione and bring her to the Hospital wing?" Harry asked before abruptly stopping. "Wait! On second thought, can you teleport me and Luna to the wing and then go get Hermione?"

 _Damn, I have to be smarter than this..._ Harry silently chastised himself.

"Yes, Master Harry!" the elf replied swiftly. With a pop, they were standing in front of Madam Pomfrey who clutched her chest in fright at their sudden appearance.

"Mr. Potter, what...oh place her on the bed and step outside while I examine her," she said firmly as her training kicked in. Harry didn't waste time and placed her carefully on the bed before stepping out. There was a flourish as the curtains were drawn, and Harry turned to Dobby who had already disappeared. Shrugging his shoulders, he went to the nearest chair and plopped himself on it. He looked at Sinja and shook his head in amusement because she had somehow managed to sleep through the entire ordeal. Through their bond, Harry could make out the occasional flashes of her dreams, which included soaring gracefully over the clouds and, for some strange reason, visions of marshmallows.

There was a pop as Dobby returned with Hermione, and Harry gave her a tired wave before using his hand to cover his breast pocket, knowing what was to come. With a squeal, Hermione crashed into him and started squeezing the stuffing out of him. He sighed in anticipation of her many questions to come and waited patiently..

"Harry, did it work? Where did you go? Is your chest injury gone? Why are you here? Unless it didn't work and you didn't find the Firebird—"

"Mia, breathe, where should I start?" Harry interrupting her. "Yes, it worked. I went to some exotic jungle. Yes, my chest injury is gone. I'm here because Luna was injured, and yes, I found the Firebird."

Hermione blinked once, then twice before hugging Harry tightly. "Oh, Harry, I'm so glad it worked...I was so worried," she said tearfully. Now that he didn't have a chest wound, Harry had to admit that he enjoyed her 'Hermione-hugs'.

They separated after moment, blushing furiously and Harry couldn't' help noticing how beautiful she looked as her rosy cheeks tinted her lightly tanned skin. Then he remembered how he beautiful he found Luna to be, with her dirty blonde hair accentuating her pale blue eyes, not to mention her dimpled smile, which Harry had no defense against. He frowned in puzzlement, curious as to why he felt this way towards Luna when he already liked Hermione. With each second, he was becoming more agitated and confused. On one hand, he liked Hermione and was considering asking her out, but now on the other hand he seemed to like Luna, too...but he felt differently about Luna than he did Hermione.

There was a rustle as the curtains were drawn aside, breaking Harry out of his contemplation. He looked up to find Luna resting comfortably, her nose fully healed. The young blonde was staring at Harry with an intensity that unnerved him, almost as if he were a puzzle. For his part, Harry just melted under those blue eyes, and it was only with great effort that he was able to tear his own eyes away, only for his gaze to land on Hermione. In that moment that Harry had only one question on his mind.

 _Oh crap! I have feelings for two girls..._

 **End Chapter.**

* * *

 **(The Tropes are not part of the story so feel free to ignore them...just a fun project)**

 **Fan-made Trope:**

"Ok give us the Polyjuice...I wonder what Harry's hair taste like" - Fred

"Oh, you taste much better than Grabbe and Goyle" - Hermione

"Um...*coughs* thanks" - Harry

"Put that wand away, George" - Mad-eye Moody

"…..*Coughs repeatedly*…." - Harry

"Wow, we're identical!" - Fred

"Erm...and you weren't identical before?" - Harry (deadpanned)

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **Well I hope you enjoyed that Chapter. Thank you all for your amazing reviews, I feel like I have improved my writing after reading some advice and comments so thank you.**

 **Which girl does Harry like? Find out next chapter and on that bombshell it's time to party...**


	6. Chapter 6 - Ripple Effect Part 1

_**(Here is Chapter 6...yay!)**_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _Luna - "Hello you wonderful people. Have you seen a Snorckack anyone? Mmm no? What about a Wrackspurt?"_

 _Harry- "Luna I think they came here to read this story, not hunt for creatures we mortals can't see."_

 _Luna- "Harry, turn around."_

 _Harry- "Wha — sweet mother of jiggling tits, what is that thing?"_

 _Luna- "...Wrackspurt **(giggles)"**_

 _Harry- "...Errr, what sorcery is this? Jk Rowling never made them real."_

 _Luna- "Harry, Jk Rowling never made us real either."_

 _Harry- (faints dead on the floor)_

 _Luna- "Oh dear. Where was I, mmm oh yes, Luminatrix does not own us but I sure wish he was my master, the things we could do in the Master bedroom...( **sighs** )"_

Review Comments:

David305 – Thank you for the feedback, I have corrected the mistakes in Chapter 2. I hope my story errors don't bother you too much until I find a Beta reader.

Aaronutte - Thanks, hope you enjoy this chapter.

Arnold DeVillena – Thank you, I am definitely excited about the pairing.

WhiteKnightofHyrule – (psss) What is Luna's favorite creatures? ~winks at WhiteKnightofHyrule~ Yeah you will like the pairing I have planned.

Mwinter1 – Hope you this chapter.

Autumngold – Thank you :)

god of all – Thank you :)

To other reviewers, I have read your reviews and I would like to thank you for your input. Even if I'm not posting chapters frequently, I am still logging in everyday to read the reviews :)

 **A/N: Hope you enjoy the next chapter of Tempore Cor.**

 **I would like to thank Philosophize for editing this chapter. If you're interesting in finding more more stories about Harry Potter, check out Philosophize's stories on his page.**

* * *

Chapter 6  


 _The mischievous glint in Sirius Black's eyes did not reassure Harry. His godfather walked into his room at Grimmauld place, carrying two shot glasses and what appeared to be an old brand of Firewhiskey._

" _Well pup, time to gather what dignity we have left and celebrate," Sirius said, pointing at the bottle of Firewhiskey._

" _Are you Serious?" Harry asked incredulously._

" _Uh, well I am ...," Sirius started._

" _Don't you dare finish that sentence! That joke is so old it's not even funny," Harry groaned in exasperation._

 _His Godfather gave a bark of laughter before placing down the shot glasses with a clink. He began filling the glasses to the brim with Firewhisky before passing one in front of Harry._

" _To be honest, you're father and Remus stopped using that joke back in fifth year. Ah the good times…" Sirius replied as he stared into off into space, remembering the past with a haunted smile on his face._

 _Harry felt bad for his godfather and wondered what he could do to get him out of his unbridled funk. With a grimace, he cleared his throat in vain attempt to clear the lump that was firmly lodged there and spoke._

" _Hey Sirius, I imagine the alcohol is so we can forget that conversation we had earlier?" Harry asked, his face contorted as if he had swallowed a fly._

" _Are you kidding Pup?" Sirius replied dubiously. "No amount of Firewhisky will make us forget that talk but since your father …isn't here, it falls to me to do it."_

" _But did you have to make it so embarrassing? Is this a tradition grownups have to make it as embarrassing as possible?" Harry whined._

 _Sirius smirked before replying._ " _That's for me to know and you to find out."_

" _Dammit Sirius…now I'll never look at girls the same way again," Harry moaned._

" _Well…had to be done my lad", Sirius shrugged. "Now that we've done the birds and the bees talk, we can drink and toast to forgetting this chat."_

 _Harry snorted at that and picked up the glass of Firewhisky at his godfather's urging. Sirius mirrored Harry's movement and held up the glass in front of him._

" _To our future wives and girlfriends…May they never meet," Sirius grinned._

 _Harry almost dropped his glass at that. He glared at his godfather's silly antics and shook his head in amusement._

" _Merlin…Sirius that was awful...wait you planned that didn't you, after our talk," Harry groused._

 _Sirius gave a bark of laughter and his grey eyes were alight with mirth._

" _Pup, I have no idea what you're talking about. Though now that I think about it, maybe it's not so bad if they meet each other after all. Every self-respecting man likes a catfight."_

" _No, no more…" Harry moaned. "…my turn."_

" _To the future, may happiness, peace and luck find us and woes of the past forgotten. May fortune favor the bold," Harry said passionately._

 _Sirius gave Harry a strange look before shaking his head. "Hear, hear now drink up, pup."_

 _Without fanfare, Harry and Sirius clinked their glasses together before gulping entire contents of the Firewhiskey straight up._

 _Seconds later, Harry's throat burned and his ears coughed up steam before a lungful of fire sprouted out of his mouth. The teenager began to cough repeatedly as his eyes watered._

" _Ho-how can you drink this stuff Sirius?" He spluttered out._

" _It's an acquired taste pup," Sirius replied with a shrug. "By the way Harry, did you know the Potter house motto is 'May fortune favor the bold'?"_

" _Huh, no, I didn't. There's so much I don't know about my family Sirius," Harry replied, his shoulders sagging._

" _Don't worry Harry, I have a lifetime of memories of them and when you do leave the Dursleys and come and stay with me, we'll have many nights like this one to share stories," Sirius replied resolutely, flashing Harry a warm, lopsided smile._

Harry sighed as he broke out of his reminiscing. The memories pained him because, once again, he'd been denied a chance to go live with his godfather, Sirius. That night before the start of the new Hogwarts year was the last time Harry had a chance to be with him before his death at the ministry.

Harry smiled wistfully, remembering how Sirius had drawn up graphic picture charts to explain the birds and bees to him, much to his mortification. At the time, he felt so embarrassed that he just wanted to hide under a rock, but now he would gladly suffer 'the talk' if it meant seeing Sirius again.

Blinking back tears, Harry stared into the inky lake before him. The calm waters of the Black Lake rippled gently in the early morning breeze, causing a blend of foam and seaweed to float in its wake. The tranquil waves soothed Harry as the young teenager relaxed on the grass while looking out at the beautiful scene of the distant mountains. His bonding with Sinja had given him some benefits, namely superior senses and a newfound clarity which he was now appreciating as the sunrise began to light up his surroundings..

The teenager had spent most of the evening staring absently at the lake, wondering where it went all wrong. He had no compunction about gaining a new companion, Sinja, nor cursing the socks off the Ravenclaws for their part in bullying Luna. Did that make him a bad person? He couldn't feel guilty when they deserved it in the first place, but it had him wondering how far their bullying would have progressed had he not been there.

Harry sighed once more and cast a warming charm on himself, eager to fend of the chilly air. He'd been in a hurry to escape Madam Pomfrey's inquisition about his healed chest the day before, and had thus failed to grab some warm knitted sweaters along the way.

When asked how he'd been healed, Harry had clammed up, not willing to reveal Sinja's existence. Instead he muttered something about Fawkes's healing tears. Finally, when she couldn't find anything wrong with him, the mediwitch released him from the hospital wing. Unsure of how to handle Hermione and Luna, he bade them goodbye before leaving the wing.

His first thought was to find a secluded place inside the castle, but without him ever consciously realizing it, his feet eventually brought him outside.

Here he was, sitting on his favorite spot by the Black Lake at the crack of dawn, wondering and planning his newfound lease on life, though his thoughts kept drifting back to Hermione and Luna. He had known Hermione for five years, being her friend and accepting her flaws while cherishing her good qualities. At the same time, though, his mind kept drifting to Luna, whom he'd known even less but felt as if he had known her his whole life. He felt confused and conflicted. Sirius had never prepared Harry for anything like this, and he didn't know what to do about it. Would Hermione think him a pig, with a dirty mind for having feelings for two different girls?

A soft pop behind him broke Harry out of his trance. He looked up sharply to find Dobby waiting with a bundle of parchment in his scrawny hands. It took Harry five seconds to understand what Dobby had brought him.

"Ah, Dobby, I gather it was a success?" Harry asked with a mischievous smirk.

"Yes, Master Harry, I did as you asked and spied on the old goatsie," Dobby replied, bobbing his head rapidly. "Old goatsie had an early meeting with staff, and when your name came up, I activated the dicto-quill which began recording the meeting."

"So soon? Excellent, Dobby, you did well," he replied, giving Dobby a fond smile. "Let's see what the old goat is up to shall we."

He unfurled the bundle of parchment and shuffled himself further into the grass for comfort as he began to read, eager to know what Dumbledore had in store for him.

 **41 Minutes ago…**

"Let us begin this meeting," Dumbledore announced. He glanced at every professor who silently sat down in their chairs, facing him. He noticed some had given him glares for forcing a meeting this early while others looked confused. Even Severus was subtly glaring at him from the corner, but that did not deter him in the least.

"Albus, why did you set this meeting up and so early?" Minerva protested. "We don't normally meet until the end of term, when the students return home."

"Minerva, I agree, but in this instance please consider this an emergency meeting," he replied with a gesture intended to placate her. However, his grandfatherly act seemed to do the opposite.

"Oh, this better be good, Albus!" she responded. It was well known that the Transfiguration Mistress was not a morning person, and anyone who dared to incur her wrath would be transfigured into a tea cup for her use.

He nodded slowly. "Shall we get started? Filius, you reported an incident with some of the Ravenclaws yesterday. What happened?"

"Uh, yes ,well, a student has been harassed for some time. When I questioned the Ravenclaws involved, they admitted to stealing Luna Lovegood's clothes and bullying her. To my shame, I had not noticed this occurring, otherwise I would have put a stop to it immediately." Filius replied, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

"Surely they wouldn't…that poor girl," Minerva gasped, looking horrified.

"Unfortunately, it only gets worse. Yesterday, they cornered her outside Hagrid's hut and began to verbally harass her, which then escalated to physical assault. It seems they were angry that Luna had taken her stuff back, and one of the students, Michael Turner, broke her nose," he continued.

"Merlin's beard, those students will need to be suspended," Pomona said with disgust. It was one thing to verbally attack someone but it was another thing entirely, to physically assault a defenseless girl.

"Now, now…let us not be hasty. I am sure those Ravenclaws are repentant," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling.

" _Repentant?_ Albus just how many lemon drops did you have to eat to get brain rot? The Ravenclaws are anything but repentant. In fact, I am very surprised they even admitted the truth at all," Filius growled.

"Yes, although it causes me great distress to agree with the dwarf, he is correct in one thing at least," Snape drawled in a bored manner. "I find it…curious that the Ravenclaws would admit to such…transgression."

"Perhaps they were coerced?" Dumbledore suggested. The old Headmaster was eager to acquit them; after all, they were merely misguided students.

"No, I don't think so. When they attacked Luna, she became so emotionally distraught that she retaliated with accidental magic that knocked them unconscious, acquiring various injuries in the process," Filius replied, shaking his head.

"They definitely need to be suspended. If this leaks out, it would make Hogwarts look bad," Minerva stated. "I believe one term of suspension at the start of next year and a black strike on their record should be sufficient punishment."

"Minerva, I'm sure that—"

"No, Albus, it's bad enough that those students belonging to the house of 'wise'… and no offense, Filius, they not only stole her belongings, but worse they would dare attack her physically. No, I will not let this one go," McGonagall interrupted.

Most of the professors nodded in agreement, which forced Dumbledore to consider his options. As Headmaster, he could ignore their input and pretend nothing occurred, but there would be a risk of a staff revolt that could cause problems for him in the long run.

Sighing in defeat, he replied, "Very well, Minerva, please inform them of their punishment. Now, onto another matter that has been brought to my attention."

"Oh?" McGonagall said.

"I heard that Harry Potter found a way to heal the cursed injury on his chest. Is that correct, Poppy?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Yes, actually the answer was deceptively simple. All he needed was phoenix tears to heal his injury, which he received yesterday. Your phoenix was very helpful in curing Mr. Potter," the matron replied.

Said phoenix turned his head toward them from his perch and blinked. The crimson bird cocked his head to the side briefly before giving a rather human-esque shrug and returning to preening once more.

"I see. We are fortunate that Harry could think of a solution then," Dumbledore said.

"Indeed, I'm amazed that the dunderhead managed the feat of thinking for once, though there is a good chance his miniscule mind went through a meltdown," Snape spat.

"Oh, grow up, Severus," McGonagall responded. "This childish hatred and fixation on Mr. Potter has gone too far! Why your very behavior makes you look like a babbling, bumbling baboon."

Snape stared coldly at McGonagall and sneered. As he was about to retort, Dumbledore cut in, sensing a rampaging argument gathering on the horizon.

"Enough, Severus and Minerva, you must put aside your differences for the greater good. We cannot be fighting amongst ourselves and against Voldemort at the same time."

There was silence as the professors glanced at each other in contemplation, though the Transfiguration professor continued to give Snape withering glares every now and then.

"We shall wrap this meeting up; Filius please arrange the transportation of students on the Hogwarts Express on Thursday. The end of term finishes in two days, and the students will return home then, thank you," Dumbledore spoke softly and nodded to Professor Flitwick.

The professors rose and filed out of the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore motioned Snape to stay behind with barely concealed nod and customary twinkle in his eyes. As soon as the professors were gone, the old Headmaster flicked his wand and cast powerful locking and silencing charms on the entrance door to his office.

"Headmaster, it seems Potter has once again circumvented death through sheer dumb luck," Snape drawled as his mouth curled in disgust.

"Yes, young Mr. Potter does seem to have an extraordinary amount of luck wherever trouble finds him," the old Headmaster replied. Dumbledore rose from his chair and strode with measured steps toward the window overlooking the Hogwarts grounds and Forbidden Forest.

"I thought you changed plans regarding Potter when he received that magical curse?" Snape muttered, giving Dumbledore an accusatory glare. The old Headmaster sighed and nodded before turning to face Snape again.

"Indeed, I did not think Mr. Potter would be resourceful enough to heal himself with Fawkes. To be honest, it hadn't even occurred to me to use the Phoenix to heal him, but I digress..." he replied softly, pausing in thought. "This changes things, and we will have to go back to our original plan."

"To have Potter killed by Voldemort's hands?" Snape inquired, his sneer turning into something that might have almost passed for a smile.. At this, Dumbledore nodded with a slight frown.

"Forgive me, Headmaster, but that plan is far more likely to succeed in destroying the _Horcrux_ within Potter than the dunderhead dying from that cursed chest injury. Due to my experience in the Dark Arts, I suspect that Potter's death by that magical wound would not have destroyed the Horcrux, if anything it would have taken possession of Potter's body as soon as the idiot died from blood loss."

"Yes, I suspect you're correct, but if even the chance of destroying one of Voldemort's Horcruxes was remote, I had to take it. Had the Horcrux taken possession of Mr. Potter's body I would have simply destroyed him," Dumbledore said with a heavy sigh.

Snape gave a look as if he had sucked on a ripe lemon. "Woe is me to have to suffer any more of Potter's stupidity. Can we not stun him, tie him up, and gift-wrap him to Voldemort, _Headmaster?"_

"No! The boy is destined to die, regardless of whether it were today or in the future by Voldemort himself. The Horcrux inside of the boy would still be destroyed, but I would prefer that Voldemort kill him by his own hands. It is better this way, at least young Harry will have a chance to enjoy what little time he has left."

"Very well, Headmaster. If that is all?"

"Yes, Severus, but before you go, how is Mr. Potter in class?"

At this question, Snape curled his lip in disgust. "The idiot is abysmal in Potions and for once, my dull colleagues are in agreement with me that he is dreadful in almost all subjects. He is lazy and has no aptitude for improving his studies."

"Very well," Dumbledore sighed, nodding slightly. "Mr. Potter will have to return to the Dursleys and we wi…."

There was a muffled thump and both professors turned sharply, looking around for the source of the noise. There was a soft pop as a neatly dressed elf with mismatching socks spun on the spot and disappeared from his hiding spot.

Harry finished reading the transcript and with an angry yell, he threw the bundle of parchment into the air. Rage blossomed inside his chest as he trembled with barely suppressed fury, and a familiar pressure in his abdomen from his magic responding to that rage was his only warning before time froze. The ripples of the lake halted, the soft sounds of trees that previously swayed in the breeze grew silent. Nothing moved, save for Harry as he stood and maneuvered through the parchment held frozen in the air until he reached the waterline of the lake.

With each second, Harry felt his anger grow. Waves of magic radiated out from his body in emerald swirls, surrounding him and wrapping protectively around him. The air was thick, heavily saturated with magic that was starting to affect his surroundings in a way that reminded him of fiery cyclones. In a flash of emerald fire, a small but majestic bird with black feathers and green highlights landed in the crook of Harry's arms.

 _ **Harry-chick, calm down. It will be alright, my bonded. I am here for you!**_

Harry was startled by the appearance of his bonded firebird, but quickly calmed down under Sinja's soothing tones. He breathed deeply, stilling his mind in an attempt to control his errant magic. With a monumental effort, Harry managed to get his magic under control. The green aura surrounding Harry faded, and the waves of energy stilled until the world was motionless and silent once more. Harry smiled gratefully at Sinja and caressed her silky feathers.

 _ **Thanks, Sinja, I don't know what I would do without you.**_

Sinja rubbed her feathered crown against his chest in response, crooning softly. The young firebird stared into his eyes with a spark of understanding. She may have been too young to comprehend what had caused Harry's outburst, but she could feel his turbulent emotions which were threatening to drown her bonded human.

 _ **Will you be alright Harry-chick?**_

Harry sighed deeply and nodded. _**I'll be alright. I just need some time to process finding out that the man I admired and looked up to does not have my best interests at heart. I guess it's just you and me against the world, hey Sinja? Oh, and Hermione…and of course Luna.**_

Sinja gave a tired trill and snuggled further into Harry's arms. The young bird looked exhausted after teleporting, and she slowly lost her battle to stay awake. Harry noticed that the firebird still had't fully recovered from healing and bonding with him the day before.

 _ **Merlin, I woke you up with my outburst didn't I? Let's get you back to the Room of Requirement where Iris will keep an eye on you girl.**_

Harry tucked Sinja under his arm and returned to the castle. He felt the tiny bird drift off to sleep as he made his way toward the Room of Requirement. No one was awake this early in the morning, so he was not worried about bumping into anyone who would discover Sinja's existence.

Once more, he paced back and forth three times while thinking of the room that he'd discovered previously. The door appeared, and he cast a glance at both ends of the corridor before entering. It paid to be vigilant, especially now that the pink toad of a woman bereft of a moral compass was back inside the castle along with her merry inquisition band.

As before, the room was a vast library surrounding a homey Gryffindor lounge setting, however there was one difference that stood out: a golden perch supporting a small nest of twigs stood next to the table. He strode over to the perch and placed the sleepy bird in the nest before collapsing on the sofa with a groan. He had every intention of joining Sinja in the realm of unconsciousness when a soft voice asked, "Still in the land of the living, Harry Potter?"

Harry jumped with a start, whipping his head around to find Iris standing behind him. Before he could reply, Iris noticed Sinja and squealed in delight.

"Oh my, what a beautiful firebird," Iris gushed as she bounded over to the perch . The Hogwart's avatar had the sense not to wake the poor exhausted bird, much to Harry's relief, but it looked like she was sorely tempted.

"Yeah, this is Sinja. She saved me by bonding with me," Harry replied tiredly. He sunk back down on to the couch with a grunt.

"A bonding? Wow, that's amazing," Iris said. "Historical records indicate there were only ever five bondings ever in history."

Harry just grunted in reply. It seemed Hermione had a kindred intellectual soul in the form of Hogwarts.

"But you're too exhausted to care, aren't you? What possessed you to stay up all night outside near the Black lake?" Iris demanded, giving a cute pout.

"I was…hang on, how did you know where I was?" Harry asked.

"Duh, my wards tell me what's going on inside and outside my walls," she replied, as if it were obvious.

"Uh, that makes sense, sort of. Look, um, can you ask me another day? It's still too raw for me to talk about it," Harry whispered, grimacing slightly.

Iris stared at Harry for a few moments before her features softened and she nodded in understanding.

"Thanks, say, um, Iris can you keep an eye on Sinja? I can't let anyone see her inside the castle…especially Dumbledore," Harry asked.

"Yep, I'd be honored to, and this room can provide for all her needs," she replied with a heart-stopping smile. "Harry, I've known about what kind of man Albus Dumbledore is ever since he took up residence here."

"Thanks…" Harry did a double take. "Wait, you knew that Dumbledore had plans for me?"

Iris nodded sadly. "I know everything that happens within my walls. Harry, I was going to warn you and break it to you slowly, but it seems you found out the hard way. Very clever using Dobby and Dicto-quills to spy on Dumbledore, by the way."

"He let Sirius die, didn't he?" Harry whispered.

"What do you think, Harry?"

"At the ministry, when we were fighting, my magic was all wonky, so I couldn't use the summoning charm reliably on Sirius. But I saw Dumbledore with his wand, out staring at Sirius as my godfather fell backwards into the Veil," he said.

Iris hummed and nodded in encouragement at Harry.

"Dumbledore could wandlessly cast ' _Arresto Momentum'_ when I fell off my broom in third year, but he didn't bother summoning Sirius. That was when I knew something was very off about that old goat," Harry finished with a sigh.

"That's why you started spying on him then?" Iris asked. At his nod, she continued,"Harry, he is not a nice man. His plans for you are malevolent and would end with your death."

Harry palmed his forehead in frustration. The outline of the jagged scar brushed against his hand as he rubbed his brow.

"Iris, what is a Horcrux?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.

The young girl hesitated at his question before answering somberly. "It's a vile, dark piece of magic which attempts to achieve a bastardized form of immortality. Basically, a dark wizard or witch splits their soul into fragments and places them in inanimate objects which then anchor the person to this plane of existence."

"That sounds nasty," Harry replied in horror.

"You have no idea, Harry! Tearing one's soul is a taint of evil so great that there is no afterlife for those who attempt it. By placing part of your soul in a container, it prevents you from passing on into the afterlife, but it also makes you insane due to the instability of tearing your soul," Iris stated, her disgust obvious in her tone.

"Oh flabby tits, and to think I have a Horcrux in me. Wait – so Voldemort…part of his soul is in me?" Harry stuttered, feeling faintly sick.

"Not anymore." Harry looked up at her quizzically, and she reached out to put a hand on his shoulder while giving him a thin smile. "Yesterday when you left Hogwarts to find a firebird, my wards showed me that you still had the Horcrux embedded in your scar, but when you came back, it was gone. I think when Sinja bonded with you, it cleansed your body and exorcised the soul fragment," Iris grinned happily.

"Thank Merlin" Harry sighed heavily and sagged in his seat. After a moment, he cocked his head to one side in thought then nodded in determination.

"That settles it; I'm going to reward Sinja by feeding her a lifetime of bacon."

Iris for her part, just stared dumbfounded at Harry then placed her hands on her hips. "Harry James Potter, you'll do no such thing. I don't want you corrupting that poor bird and fattening such a beautiful, legendary creature…that's – that's animal abuse!"

"Ok, ok calm down…I won't, Iris," Harry replied before muttering under his breath. "I think Hermione corrupted you."

"What was that?" Iris snapped at him.

"Nothing – um nothing."

The young girl glared at him before she smiling innocently and poked her tongue at him.

"That's what I thought."

"So, how do you know all these stuff, Iris?" Harry wondered out loud.

"With a millennia of rowdy, young students studying within my walls, you learn a thing or two about magic….that and this library contains every book about every branch of magic in our world, and I can access the information directly."

"Is that why you look so young?" Harry asked.

Iris nodded. "The culmination of every student's magic, thoughts and desires inside the castle have made me sentient and shaped me to be who I am today Harry."

"Cool!" Harry responded, somewhat stunned. What could you say to that, in the face of a sentient castle?

"Yep, it's a do—"

Iris was interrupted by the sound of a soft hoot that startled Harry. He saw his faithful owl, Hedwig soaring towards him with a letter tucked firmly in her talons. Harry could already feel his spirits lifting as she landed beside him and began nibbling his fingers with affection.

"I'm not even going to ask how Hedwig managed to get into the Room of Requirement without a window, but hey, girl, I missed you," Harry whispered, stroking her snowy feathers.

Hedwig barked softly at her underling and extended her leg toward him, eager to unburden her load. Harry unfastened the envelope from her talons and gasped when he saw the Gringotts seal stamped on it.

"Thank you, Hedwig…I don't have any food with me but when breakfast starts, you can fly into the Great Hall and grab some rashers…how about that?" Harry said softly. He smiled as Hedwig nodded at him before taking flight and heading toward the Owlery.

"Nope, still not going to ask…let's see what we have here," Harry muttered, shaking his head. He paused before opening the letter and began to read.

 _Dear Mr. Potter,_

 _In response to your enquiry, we can disclose the following information in accordance with Gringotts Client Policy._

 _To your first question, your parents did indeed leave their original will along with two copies behind to be read upon their deaths. The original will was placed with the Potter Solicitor who was to oversee fulfilling your parents' legal obligations upon their deaths. One copy was placed with the Potter vault here at Gringotts and one copy was placed at the Ministry of Magic, more specifically with the Department of Inheritance in the event of the original copy being stolen, damaged or lost. If you wish to learn of what has become of your parents will, you will need to visit Gringotts in person as this information is too sensitive to be sent by letter._

 _To your second question, yes your parents left three vaults to you. The main vault is the Potter vault which houses the majority of your inheritance which you will receive either upon your 17th birthday or upon the date of your emancipation. The second vault, which belonged to Ignotus Peverell before being inherited by the Potter Clan through your father's side, has never been opened nor officially claimed by a Potter since Ignotus's death. Lastly, the trust fund vault which you are currently using was opened by your parents in the event of their deaths to provide for your needs until you claimed the main Potter vault. Again, you should visit Gringotts and speak to the Potter manager regarding some sensitive information._

 _You should indeed have received monthly statements regarding the Potter main vault and your trust fund. Since you have not received a single statement, we believe there has been a serious breach of security. We have begun an investigation, however it will go faster if you can visit Gringotts to verify a few things._

 _Lastly, your parents own a number of properties which you will able to claim on your 17th birthday or upon your emancipation. This letter is a portkey designed to transport you to a special waiting room in Gringotts where you can meet your Potter Manager who can resolve these issues._

 _May your enemies tremble beneath your feet and your gold overflow from your pockets._

 _Gringotts_

Harry slowly folded the letter and counted to ten. He felt elated that his parents cared about his well-being, but angry that someone had been interfering with his bank statements.

"What does it say, Harry?" Iris asked impatiently.

"Someone has been intercepting my bank statements; I apparently have three vaults and a few properties. And...my parents did have a will. I'm going to bet my entire inheritance and say that my parents didn't want me to go to the Dursleys," Harry replied with a frown.

Iris looked guilty and shifted uneasily. "Um..."

"Is there something you want to tell me, Iris?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes.

"Well, my wards are registering a Mail blocking ward around you, Harry. And, um, well, Dumbledore placed it there….among other things," Iris shifted nervously. "Harry, you need to go to Gringotts and ask if their goblin healers can examine you. They're among the best in the world."

"Fine, but I don't like this," Harry groused.

Iris looked at him with sympathy before sighing. "It's better this way. It's better if you find out yourself."

"You're making me nervous. It sounds serious…should I go to Gringotts now?" he asked.

"Yes, now would be a good time before Dumbledore finds out and stops you," she replied, biting her bottom lip. Harry gave a long searching look at Iris before nodding.

"Well, let's get this over with. Dobby!"

The jubilant house elf appeared with a soft pop, though when he saw his master's worried look, he lost his smile. "Master calls?"

"Hey, Dobby, can you take me outside the Hogwarts wards? And after that can you please feed Hedwig some rashers?" Harry asked the diminutive elf.

"Yes, Master Harry," Dobby replied with a nod. The house elf grabbed Harry's arm and with a soft pop, they appeared on the outskirts of Hogsmeade.

"Thanks, buddy, I'll see you later alright," Harry said, smiling gratefully.

Harry stumbled a bit after the Gringotts portkey deposited him in a dimly lit room. In the corner behind a worn desk sat a stout goblin with a permanent scowl on his gnarled face. The goblin glanced sharply at him before he resumed shuffling parchments, muttering all the while. Harry was unsure what to do so he tentatively approached the goblin, intent on getting answers.

"Hello, um, I'm Harry Potter," Harry said, cringing when his voice squeaked slightly.

"Yes, I was told to anticipate your arrival, Mr. Potter. Give me a few minutes to finish writing these letters, then I shall take you to your account manager," the unnamed goblin replied.

Harry nodded, although the effort was wasted as the goblin continued shuffling without giving a sidelong look at him. After a few moments, the goblin stood up and beckoned Harry to follow with an impatient flourish.

Not wanting to anger the temperamental goblin, Harry followed briskly. They strode through musky, chilly corridors until they reached an ornate door with torches cradled in iron holders on either side of the door. The goblin knocked on the door sharply before Harry heard a series of grunts and a muffled reply coming from inside.

"In you go, Mr. Potter," the goblin said, gesturing to the door.

"Thank you, Sir," Harry replied. He walked through the door to find a large office, overflowing with stacks of parchments and sharp axes hanging along the walls. He looked toward the center where a goblin of small stature sat behind a ridiculously large wooden desk.

"Come in, Mr. Potter. I have been waiting years for your arrival," the goblin sitting behind the desk spoke.

"Hello, Sir," Harry replied, smiling at the goblin. He moved toward the chair in front of the desk and sat down.

"My name is Longcock, and I have served as the Potter account manager for over sixty two years," Longcock said with smile which Harry thought looked more like a grimace than anything.

"Huh, your name is Longcock?"

"Yes, what of it?" the goblin asked, staring suspiciously at Harry.

"Oh-um…er nothing" Harry replied, desperate to hold back a chuckle. He didn't want to start things off by being rude to the Goblin.

"Very well, let's get straight to business," Longcock said stiffly. The goblin shuffled some parchment before continuing. Harry felt his face going red with restrained mirth. "I was expecting you on your eleventh birthday, Mr. Potter, but you never showed. I assume that is one of the many issues we are going to discuss today? But first, let's talk about your parents' wills."

Harry nodded. This was the moment he'd been waiting for.

Longcock cleared his throat and continued, "It seems, Mr. Potter, that the Potter wills have been locked and are inaccessible thanks to Albus Dumbledore."

 _What?_

 **End Chapter.**

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Stay tuned for Ripple Effect Part Two. After this the story will begin to pick up now that Harry is disillusioned with regard to authority figures and his lot in life. I may be swamped with work this week so the next chapter may not be up until next week at the latest.


End file.
